Pashtun people

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Pashtuns

Pa tun

1st row: Ibrahim Lodi Sher Shah Rahman Baba 2nd row: Khushal Khan Mirwais Ahmad Shah 3rd row: Akbar Khan Ayub Khan Abdur Rahman 4th row: Amanullah Bacha Khan Zahir Shah 5th row: Momand Khalilzad Hamid Karzai

Total population

Approx. 50 million (2009)[1] Regions with significant populations

Pakistan Afghanistan UAE Iran United Kingdom Canada India United States Malaysia and Singapore
Languages Pashto

27.2 million [2] (2009) 13.46 million [3] (2010) 338,315 (2009) [4] 110,000 (2010) [5] 100,000 (2009) [6] 26,000 (2006) [7] 11,086 (2001) [8] 7,710 (2000) [9] 5,100 (2008) [10]

Urdu and Dari spoken as second languages

Religion Islam (Sunni Hanafi)

with small Shia minority

Related ethnic groups Tajiks Baloch Hindkowans Pashai Nuristanis Burusho

Pashtuns (Pashto: patn, Paxtun, also rendered as Pushtuns, Pakhtuns, Pukhtuns) or Pathans (Urdu: , Hindi: Pahn), also known as ethnic Afghans (Persian: ,) are an ethnic group with populations primarily in Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan, which includes Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Balochistan.[11] The Pashtuns are typically characterised by their usage of the Pashto language and practice of Pashtunwali, a traditional set of ethics guiding individual and communal conduct. Their origins are unclear but historians have come across references to various ancient peoples called Paktha (Pactyans) between the 2nd and the 1st millennium BC,[12][13][14] who may be the early ancestors of Pashtuns. Since the 3rd century AD and onward, they are mostly referred to by the ethnonym "Afghan".[15][16][17][18] Often characterised as a warrior and martial race, they have a tumultuous past, especially after their conversion to the faith of Islam. Their turbulent history is spread amongst various countries

of South, Central and West Asia, centred around the medieval state of Afghanistan, which has been their traditional seat of power. During the Delhi Sultanate era, many Pashtun emperors (sultans) ruled the Indian subcontinent. Other Pashtuns defeated the Safavid Persians and the Mughal Empire[19] before obtaining an independent state in the early-18th century, which began with a successful revolution by the Hotaki dynasty followed by conquests by Ahmad Shah Durrani.[20] Pashtuns played a vital role during the Great Game from the 19th century to the 20th century as they were caught between the imperialist designs of the British and Russian empires. Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan; for over 300 years, they have reigned as the dominant ethno-linguistic group, with nearly all rulers being Pashtun. More recently, the Pashtuns gained global attention during the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan and with the rise of the Taliban, since they are the main ethnic contingent in the movement. Pashtuns are also an important community in Pakistan, which has the largest Pashtun population and where they constitute the second-largest ethnic group, having attained presidency and high positions in the armed forces. The Pashtuns are the world's largest (patriarchal) segmentary lineage ethnic group. According to Ethnologue, the total population of the group is estimated to be around 50 million[1] but an accurate count remains elusive due to the lack of an official census in Afghanistan since 1979. Estimates of the number of Pashtun tribes and clans range from about 350 to over 400.[19][21]

Contents
[hide]

1 Geographic distribution 2 History and origins o 2.1 Ancient references o 2.2 Anthropology and oral traditions 3 Genetics 4 Modern era 5 Pashtuns defined o 5.1 Ethnic definition o 5.2 Cultural definition o 5.3 Ancestral definition 6 Putative ancestry 7 Culture o 7.1 Pashto literature, poetry and media o 7.2 Pashtunwali and tribalism o 7.3 Religion o 7.4 Performing arts o 7.5 Sports o 7.6 Family life 8 Women 9 See also 10 Notes and references 11 Further reading

12 External links

[edit] Geographic distribution

Main article: Pashtun diaspora

Map of Afghanistan and Pakistan showing the predominant Pashtun areas in green color. The vast majority of Pashtuns are found between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan. Additional Pashtun communities are located in western and northern Afghanistan, the Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir regions and northern Punjab province of Pakistan, as well as in the Khorasan province of Iran. There are also sizeable Muslim communities in India, which are of largely putative Pashtun ancestry.[8][22] Throughout the Indian subcontinent, excluding Pashtun-dominated regions, they are often referred to as Pathans. Smaller Pashtun communities are found in the countries of the Arabian Peninsula, Europe and the Americas, particularly in North America. Important metropolitan centres of Pashtun culture include Kandahar, Quetta, Peshawar, Jalalabad, Kunduz and Swat. Kabul and Ghazni are home to around 25% Pashtun population while Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif each has at least 10%.[23] With as high as 7 million by some estimates, the city of Karachi in Pakistan may have the largest concentration of urban Pashtuns in the world.[24][25] In addition, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, and Lahore also have sizeable Pashtun populations.[26] Pashtuns comprise roughly 15.42% of Pakistan's 174 million population.[2] In Afghanistan, they make up an estimated 42% of the 29 million population according to the CIA World Factbook.[27] Some sources give 5060%[28][29][30][31][32][33] because the exact figure remains uncertain in Afghanistan, and are affected by the 1.7 million Afghan refugees that remain in Pakistan a majority of which are Pashtuns.[34] Another 937,600 Afghans live in Iran according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).[35] A cumulative population assessment suggests a total of around 49 million individuals all across the world.[1]

Further information: Pashtuns in Bihar, Pathans of Gujarat, Pathans of Punjab, Pathans of Rajasthan, and Pathans of Uttar Pradesh

[edit] History and origins

Part of a series on

Pashtuns
Etymology Pashtunwali Language Culture Art Tribes Diaspora Kingdoms (Lodi Suri Hotaki Durrani) Afghanistan Pakistan Pashtunistan Pakhtunkhwa Pashtunization

vde Further information: History of Afghanistan and History of Pakistan

The history of the Pashtun people is ancient and much of it is not fully researched. Since the 2nd millennium BC, cities in the region now inhabited by Pashtuns have seen invasions and migrations, including by Ancient Iranian peoples, the Median and Persian empires of antiquity, Greeks, Mauryas, Kushans, Hephthalites, Sassanids, Arab Muslims, Turks, Mongols, Palas and others. In recent age, people of the Western world have explored the area as well.[36][37][38][39]

There are many conflicting theories about the origin of Pashtuns, some modern and others archaic, both among historians and the Pashtuns themselves. According to most historians and experts, the true origin of the Pashtuns is some what unclear.[40] ...the origin of the Afghans is so obscure, that no one, even among the oldest and most clever of the tribe, can give satisfactory information on this point.[41] Looking for the origin of Pashtuns and the Afghans is something like exploring the source of the Amazon. Is there one specific beginning? And are the Pashtuns originally identical with the Afghans? Although the Pashtuns nowadays constitute a clear ethnic group with their own language and culture, there is no evidence whatsoever that all modern Pashtuns share the same ethnic origin. In fact it is highly unlikely.[42]

[edit] Ancient references

Further information: Afghan (ethnonym) and Afghana

The Arachosia Satrapy and the Pactyan people during the Achaemenid Empire in 500 B.C. A variety of ancient groups with eponyms similar to Pukhtun have been hypothesized as possible ancestors of modern Pashtuns. The Rigveda (17001100 BC) mentions a tribe called Paktha inhabiting eastern Afghanistan and academics have proposed their connection with today's Pakhtun people.[12][13] Furthermore, the Greek historian Herodotus mentioned a people called Pactyans living in the same area (Achaemenid's Arachosia Satrapy) as early as the 1st millennium BCE.[14] It is believed that these may have been the ancient ancestors of Pashtuns.[12] Some modern-day Pashtun tribes have also been identified living in ancient Gandhara (i.e. Alexander's historians mentioned "Aspasii" in 330 BC and that may refer to today's Afridis).[43] Herodotus has mentioned the same Afridi tribe as "Apridai" over a century earlier.[44] Strabo, who lived between 64 BC and 24 CE, explains that the tribes inhabiting the lands west of the Indus River were part of Ariana and to their east was India.[12] In the Middle Ages until the advent of modern Afghanistan in the 18th century and the division of Pashtun territory by the 1893 Durand Line, Pashtuns were often referred to as ethnic "Afghans". The earliest mention of the name Afghan (Abgn) is by Shapur I of the Sassanid

Empire during the 3rd century CE,[15][16][45] which is later recorded in the 6th century CE in the form of "Avagn" by the Indian astronomer Varha Mihira in his Brihat-samhita.[17] It was used to refer to a common legendary ancestor known as "Afghana", propagated to be grandson of King Saul of Israel.[46][40][47] Hiven Tsiang, a Chinese pilgrim, visiting the Afghanistan area several times between 630 to 644 CE also speaks about them.[15][48] In Shahnameh 1110 and 1 116, it is written as Awgaan.[15] Ancestors of many of today's Turkic-speaking Afghans settled in the Hindu Kush area and began to assimilate much of the culture and language of the Pashtun tribes already present there.[49] Among these were the Khalaj people which are known today as Ghilzai.[50] According to several scholars such as V. Minorsky, the name "Afghan" is documented several times in the 982 CE Hudud-al-Alam.[45] Saul, a pleasant village on a mountain. In it live Afghans.[42] Hudud ul-'alam, 982 CE

Names of territories during the Islamic Caliphate of the 7th century and onward.

Kelaut-I-Ghiljie, a small village-town in Afghanistan. The village of Saul was probably located near Gardez, Afghanistan. Hudud ul-'alam also speaks of a king in Ninhar (Nangarhar), who had Muslim, Afghan and Hindu wives.[42] Al-Biruni wrote about Afghans in the 11th century as various tribes living in the western mountains of India and extending to the region of Sind, which would be the Sulaiman Mountains area between Khorasan and Hindustan. It was reported that between 1039 and 1040 CE Mas'ud I of the Ghaznavid Empire sent his son to subdue a group of rebel Afghans near Ghazni. An army of Arabs, Afghans, Khiljis and others was assembled by Arslan Shah Ghaznavid in 1119 CE. Another army of Afghans and Khiljis was assembled by Bahram Shah Ghaznavid in 1153 CE. Muhammad of Ghor, ruler of the Ghorids, also had Afghans in his army along with others.[51] A

famous Moroccan travelling scholar, Ibn Battuta, visiting Afghanistan following the era of the Khilji dynasty in early 1300s gives his description of the Afghans. We travelled on to Kabul, formerly a vast town, the site of which is now occupied by a village inhabited by a tribe of Persians called Afghans. They hold mountains and defiles and possess considerable strength, and are mostly highwaymen. Their principle mountain is called Kuh Sulayman. It is told that the prophet Sulayman [Solomon] ascended this mountain and having looked out over India, which was then covered with darkness, returned without entering it.[52] Ibn Battuta, 1333 Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah (Ferishta), writes about Afghans and their country called Afghanistan in the 16th century. The men of Kbul and Khilj also went home; and whenever they were questioned about the Musulmns of the Kohistn (the mountains), and how matters stood there, they said, "Don't call it Kohistn, but Afghnistn; for there is nothing there but Afghns and disturbances." Thus it is clear that for this reason the people of the country call their home in their own language Afghnistn, and themselves Afghns. The people of India call them Patn; but the reason for this is not known. But it occurs to me, that when, under the rule of Muhammadan sovereigns, Musulmns first came to the city of Patn, and dwelt there, the people of India (for that reason) called them Patnsbut God knows![53] Ferishta, 15601620 One historical account connects the Pakhtuns of Pakistan to a possible Ancient Egyptian past but this lacks supporting evidence. I have read in the Mutla-ul-Anwar, a work written by a respectable author, and which I procured at Burhanpur, a town of Khandesh in the Deccan, that the Afghans are Copts of the race of the Pharaohs; and that when the prophet Moses got the better of that infidel who was overwhelmed in the Red Sea, many of the Copts became converts to the Jewish faith; but others, stubborn and self-willed, refusing to embrace the true faith, leaving their country, came to India, and eventually settled in the Sulimany mountains, where they bore the name of Afghans.[18] Ferishta, 15601620 Additionally, although this too is unsubstantiated, some Afghan historians have maintained that Pashtuns are linked to the ancient Israelites. The Afghan historians proceed to relate that the children of Israel, both in Ghore and in Arabia, preserved their knowledge of the unity of God and the purity of their religious belief, and that on the appearance of the last and greatest of the prophets (Mohammed) the Afghans of Ghore listened to the invitation of their Arabian brethren, the chief of whom was Khauled (or Caled), son of Waleed, so famous for his conquest of Syria, and marched to the aid of the true faith, under the command of Kyse, afterwards surnamed Abdoolresheed.[54] Mohan Lal, 1846

[edit] Anthropology and oral traditions

See also: Theory of Pashtun descent from Israelites and Dasht-e Yahudi

Earliest Pashtun photograph in which Amir Sher Ali Khan is sitting with Prince Abdullah Jan and the Afghan Sardars in 1869. Some anthropologists lend credence to the oral traditions of the Pashtun tribes themselves. For example, according to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, the theory of Pashtun descent from Israelites is traced to Maghzan-e-Afghani who compiled a history for Khan-e-Jehan Lodhi in the reign of Mughal Emperor Jehangir in the 17th century.[44] Another book that corresponds with Pashtun historical records, Taaqati-Nasiri, states that in the 7th century BC a people called the Bani Israel settled in the Ghor region of Afghanistan and migrated later to the southeast areas. These references to Bani Israel agree with the commonly held view by Pashtuns that when the twelve tribes of Israel were dispersed (see Israel and Judah and Ten Lost Tribes), the tribe of Joseph, among other Hebrew tribes, settled in the region.[55] This oral tradition is widespread among the Pashtuns. There have been many legends over the centuries of descent from the Ten Lost Tribes after groups converted to Christianity and Islam. Hence the tribal name Yusufzai in Pashto translates to the "son of Joseph". A similar story is told by the 16th century Persian historian, Ferishta.[18]

Caucasian race includes Pashtun (Afghan), seen on the right bottom row. One conflicting issue in the belief that the Pashtuns descend from the Israelites is that the Ten Lost Tribes were exiled by the ruler of Assyria, while Maghzan-e-Afghani says they were permitted by the ruler to go east to Afghanistan. This inconsistency can be explained by the fact that Persia acquired the lands of the ancient Assyrian Empire when it conquered the Empire of the Medes and Chaldean Babylonia, which had conquered Assyria decades earlier. But no ancient author mentions such a transfer of Israelites further east, or no ancient extra-Biblical texts refer to the Ten Lost Tribes at all.

Other Pashtun tribes claim descent from Arabs, including some even claiming to be descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (referred to as Sayyids).[56] Some groups from Peshawar and Kandahar claim to be descended from Ancient Greeks that arrived with Alexander the Great.[57] In terms of race, the Pashtuns are classified as Caucasians[46] of the Mediterranean variant.[58] Their Pashto language is classified under the Eastern Iranian sub-branch of the Iranian branch of the Indo-European family of languages.[59] Early precursors to the Pashtuns were old Iranian tribes that spread throughout the eastern Iranian plateau.[60] According to the Russian scholar Yu. V. Gankovsky, the Pashtuns probably began as a "union of largely East-Iranian tribes which became the initial ethnic stratum of the Pashtun ethnogenesis, dates from the middle of the first millennium CE and is connected with the dissolution of the Epthalite (White Huns) confederacy." He proposes Kushan-o-Ephthalite origin for Pashtuns.[61][62] Those who speak a dialect of Pashto in the Kandahar region refer to themselves as Pashtuns, while those who speak a Peshawari dialect call themselves Pukhtuns. These native people compose the core of ethnic Pashtuns who are found in southeastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan. The Pashtuns have oral and written accounts of their family tree. The elders transfer the knowledge to the younger generation. Lineage is considered very important and is a vital consideration in marital business.

[edit] Genetics
This article may contain inappropriate or misinterpreted citations that do not verify the text. Please help improve this article by checking for inaccuracies. (help, talk, get involved!) (August 2011) Research into human DNA is a new way to explore historical movements of populations by studying their genetic make-up. Various Genetic studies have been carried out by different sources. The latest studies indicate a multi match for certain haplotypes that include in particular haplogroups J2, G1, G2c and subtypes. The Gs include G1, G2c (Y-STR haplotype 731),2,3,5 from various studies:

Table 3 in the study by Sengupta et al. (2006) Pakistani (n=176), Y chromosome lineages.[63] ncbi.nlm.nih.gov Firasat et al. and Sengupta et al. (2006)[64] The YHRD European forensic database has several haplotypes from Pakistan that are very likely to be G2c[65][66]
n Statu s DYS 393 DYS 390 DY S19 DYS 391 DYS 385 DYS 426 DYS 388 DYS 439 DYS 392 DYS 389 DYS 438 DYS 461

Popul ation

and Locati on

= add 2 to DYS A7.2 13,3 0 13,3 1 13,3 2 13,3 3 14,3 1 14,3 2 14,3 3 15,3 3 13,3 0 13,3 0

Ashke nazi Jews Polan dLithua nia Weste rn Germa ny Sicilia ns Patha ns Patha ns 13,1 5 13,1 6 14,1 6

3 0 0

confir med

12 13

22 23 24

15 16

9 10 11

11

12

11 12

11

10

12

1 6

confir med confir med

13 13

23 23

16 17

11 10

13,1 6

11 11

12 12

11 11

11 11

Some genetic genealogy studies also indicate a minor contribution to the Pashtun DNA from Iranian, Arab, Turkish and Greek peoples.[67] The theory of Pashtun descent from Israelites is currently being studied by Navras Aafreedi and Shahnaz Ali of India.[68][69] "Pathans, or Pashtuns, are the only people in the world whose probable descent from the lost tribes of Israel finds mention in a number of texts from the 10th century to the present day, written by Jewish, Christian and Muslim scholars alike, both religious as well as secularists."[70] Navras Aafreedi, academic at the University of Lucknow and member of the Afridis Israel is planning to fund this rare genetic study to determine whether there is a link between the lost tribes of Israel and the Pashtuns. "Of all the groups, there is more convincing evidence about the Pashtuns than anybody else, but the Pashtuns are the ones who would reject Israel most ferociously. That is the sweet irony."[70] Shalva Weil, anthropologist and senior researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Mitochondrial DNA analysis on a 2500 year-old skeleton excavated from a Scythian kurgan at the Kizil site in the Altai Republic casts doubt on the theory of Pashtun descent from Scythians. Results showed the remains to be a member of haplogroup N1a.[71] This haplogroup is spread

widely across Eurasia and northeast Africa in low frequencies but is not currently identified in Pashtuns. Precise matches to the Scythian skeleton are found in Yemen, Armenia, Egypt, Germany, and Estonia. Additionally:

Mitochondrial DNA extracted from two Scytho-Siberian skeletons (Altai Republic (Russia) dating back 2,500 years) show characteristics "of mixed Euro-Mongoloid origin". ("European" in this context means Western Eurasian).[72] One of the individuals was found to carry the F2a maternal lineage, and the other the D lineage, both of which are characteristic of East Eurasian populations.[73] Maternal genetic analysis (of Saka period male and female skeletal remains, Beral site Kazakhstan) determined an HV1 mitochondrial sequence in the male (most frequent in European populations) and the HV1 sequence of the female to be of an Asian origin. It was suggested that the female may have derived from either mtDNA X or D.[74] Y-Chromosome DNA testing (ancient Scythian skeletons dated to the 5th century BCE, Sebstei site) exhibited the R1a1 haplogroup. A search in the YHRD database as well as the researching scientists' own database revealed close matches were found for a haplotype found at high frequency in Altaians & among eastern Europeans and Central Anatolia. Other haplotype matches closely matched types in Poland, Germany, Anatolia, Armenia, Nepal and India.[75]

[edit] Modern era

See also: List of Pashtuns

Leader of the non-violent Khudai Khidmatgar, also referred to as the "the Red shirts" movement, Bacha Khan, standing with Mohandas Gandhi. The Pashtuns are intimately tied to the history of modern Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India. Following Muslim conquests from the 7th to 10th centuries, Pashtun ghazis (warriors) invaded and conquered much of the Indian subcontinent during the Ghaznavids (9631187), Ghurid dynasty (11481215), Khilji dynasty (12901321), Lodhi dynasty (14511526) and Suri dynasty (15401556). Their modern past stretches back to the Hotaki dynasty (17091738) and the Durrani Empire. The Hotakis were Ghilzai tribesmen, who defeated the Persian Safavids and seized control over much of Persia from 1722 to 1738.[76] This was followed by the conquests of

Ahmad Shah Durrani who was a former high-ranking military commander under Nader Shah of Khorasan. He created the last Afghan empire that covered most of what is today Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kashmir, Indian Punjab, as well as the Kohistan and Khorasan provinces of Iran.[20] After the decline of the Durrani dynasty in the first half of the 19th century under Shuja Shah Durrani, the Barakzai dynasty took control of the empire. Specifically, the Mohamedzai subclan held Afghanistan's monarchy from around 1826 to the end of Zahir Shah's reign in 1973. This legacy continues into modern times as the state is led by the Karzai administration under President Hamid Karzai, who is from the Popalzai tribe of Kandahar.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Abdul Rahim Wardak, the Defense Minister of Afghanistan since 2004.

Afghan Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal and Education Minister Ghulam Farooq Wardak during a joint US-Afghan letter signing in 2011. The Pashtuns in Afghanistan resisted British designs upon their territory and kept the Russians at bay during the so-called Great Game. By playing the two super powers against each other, Afghanistan remained an independent sovereign state and maintained some autonomy (see the Siege of Malakand). But during the reign of Abdur Rahman Khan (18801901), Pashtun regions were politically divided by the Durand Line, and what is today western Pakistan was claimed by British in 1893. In the 20th century, many politically-active Pashtun leaders living under British rule of undivided India supported Indian independence, including Ashfaqulla Khan,[77] as well as Bacha Khan and his son Wali Khan (both members of the Khudai Khidmatgar, popularly referred to as the Surkh posh or "the Red shirts"), and were inspired by Mohandas Gandhi's nonviolent method of resistance.[78][79] Some Pashtuns also worked in the Muslim League to fight for an independent Pakistan, including Yusuf Khattak and Abdur Rab Nishtar who was a close associate of Muhammad Ali Jinnah.[80][81]

Hedayat Amin Arsala, former member of World Bank and Finance Minister of Afghanistan.

Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, former member of World Bank, Finance Minister of Afghanistan and chancellor of Kabul University.

Asadullah Khalid in front of Rahman Baba High School in Kabul The Pashtuns of Afghanistan attained complete independence from British intervention during the reign of King Amanullah Khan, following the Third Anglo-Afghan War. The Afghan monarchy ended when President Daoud Khan seized control of Afghanistan from his cousin King Zahir Shah in 1973. This opened the door to Soviet intervention and the rise of Afghan Marxists, who assassinated Daoud Khan along with his family and relatives in the 1978 Marxist revolution. After this, many Pashtuns began joining the mujahideen opposition against the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. This included famous figures such as Mullah Omar, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Jalaluddin Haqqani, who are currently waging a jihad against the US-led NATO forces and the Islamic republic of Afghanistan. In the meantime, millions of them began fleeing their native land to live among other Afghan refugees in neighbouring Pakistan and Iran, while thousands of them proceeded to North America, the European Union, the Middle East, Australia and other parts of the world.

In the late 1990s, they became known for being the primary ethnic group that comprised the Taliban, which was a religious government based on Islamic sharia law formed to end the civil war.[82] On the other hand, the Taliban opposition also included Pashtuns. Among them were Abdul Qadir and his brother Abdul Haq, Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, Gul Agha Sherzai, the Karzais, Abdullah Abdullah, Asadullah Khalid and many others. The Taliban were ousted in late 2001 during the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom and replaced with the current Karzai administration, which is dominated by Pashtun ministers.[83] Some of these include: Foreign Minister Zalmay Rasoul, Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak, Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal, Education Minister Ghulam Farooq Wardak, Commerce Minister Anwar ul-Haq Ahady, Agriculture Minister Mohammad Asef Rahimi and Communication Minister Amirzai Sangin. The list of current governors of Afghanistan, as well as the parliamentarians in the House of the People and House of Elders, include large percentage of Pashtuns. The Chief of staff of the Afghan National Army, Sher Mohammad Karimi, and Commander of the Afghan Air Force, Mohammad Dawran, as well as Chief Justice of Afghanistan Abdul Salam Azimi and Attorney General Mohammad Ishaq Aloko also belong to the Pashtun ethnic group. Several prominent Pashtun families include the Tarzis, Gilanis, and the Karzais. They not only played an important role in South Asia but also in Central Asia, including the Middle East. The Afghan royal family, which was represented by king Zahir Shah, is of ethnic Pashtun origin. Other prominent Pashtuns include the 17th-century poets Khushal Khan Khattak and Rahman Baba, and in contemporary era Afghan Astronaut Abdul Ahad Mohmand, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad, Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, Ali Ahmad Jalali, Hedayat Amin Arsala and Mirwais Ahmadzai among many others. Ethnic Pashtuns of Pakistan, notably Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan and Ghulam Ishaq Khan, attained the Presidency. Ghulam Mohammad became the Governor-General of Pakistan from 1951 to 1955. Many more held high government posts, such as Army Chief Gul Hassan Khan, Abdul Waheed Kakar, Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Sherpao, and so on. Others became famous in sports (i.e. Shahid Afridi, Imran Khan, Jahangir Khan, and Jansher Khan) and literature (i.e. Ghani Khan, Ameer Hamza Shinwari, Munir Niazi, and Omer Tarin). The Awami National Party (ANP) of Pakistan is represented by Pashtun nationalist Asfandyar Wali Khan, grandson of Bacha Khan, while the chairman of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP) is Mahmood Khan Achakzai, son of Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai. One of India's former presidents, Zakir Hussain, had Pashtun origin of the Afridi tribe who came from an upper middle class Pashtun family settled in Farrukhabad.[84][85][86] Mohammad Yunus, India's former ambassador to Algeria and advisor to Indira Gandhi, is an ethnic Pashtun related to the legendary Bacha Khan.[87][88][89][90]

[edit] Pashtuns defined

Pashtun children from the Khost Province of Afghanistan Among historians, anthropologists, and the Pashtuns themselves, there is some debate as to who exactly qualifies as a Pashtun. The most prominent views are: 1. Pashtuns are predominantly an Eastern Iranian people, speakers of the Pashto language, and live in a contiguous geographic location across Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is the generally accepted academic view.[91] 2. They are Sunni Muslims, follow Pashtunwali and meet other criteria.[46][91] 3. In accordance with the legend of Qais Abdur Rashid, the figure traditionally regarded as their progenitor, Pashtuns are those whose related patrilineal descent may be traced back to legendary times. These three definitions may be described as the ethno-linguistic definition, the religious-cultural definition, and the patrilineal definition, respectively.

[edit] Ethnic definition

The ethno-linguistic definition is the most prominent and accepted view as to who is and is not a Pashtun.[92] Generally, this most common view holds that Pashtuns are defined within the parameters of having mainly eastern Iranian ethnic origins, sharing a common language, culture and history, living in relatively close geographic proximity to each other, and acknowledging each other as kinsmen. Thus, tribes that speak disparate yet mutually intelligible dialects of Pashto acknowledge each other as ethnic Pashtuns and even subscribe to certain dialects as "proper", such as the Pukhtu spoken by the Yousafzai and the Pashto spoken by the Durrani in Kandahar. These criteria tend to be used by most Pashtuns in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

[edit] Cultural definition

The religious and cultural definition requires Pashtuns to be Muslim and adhere to Pashtunwali codes.[93] This is the most prevalent view among orthodox and conservative tribesmen, who refuse to recognise any non-Muslim as a Pashtun. Pashtun intellectuals and academics, however, tend to be more flexible and sometimes define who is Pashtun based on other criteria. Pashtun society is not homogenous by religion: the overwhelming majority of them are Sunni Muslims, with a tiny Shia community (the Turi and partially the Bangash tribe) in the Kurram and Orakzai

agencies of FATA, Pakistan. Pakistani Jews and Afghan Jews, once numbering in the thousands, have largely relocated to Israel and the United States.[94]

[edit] Ancestral definition

The patrilineal definition is based on an important orthodox law of Pashtunwali which mainly requires that only those who have a Pashtun father are Pashtun. This law has maintained the tradition of exclusively patriarchal tribal lineage. This definition places less emphasis on what language one speaks, such as Pashto, Persian, Urdu or English.

[edit] Putative ancestry

Further information: Pashtun diaspora and Pathan

Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan is a non-Pashto-speaking Indian of ethnic Afghan (Pashtun) descent.[95] There are various communities who claim ethnic Afghan descent but are largely found among other ethnic groups in the south and central Asian region who generally do not speak the Pashto language. These communities are often considered overlapping groups or are simply assigned to the ethno-linguistic group that corresponds to their geographic location and mother tongue. They include some who often speak Dari (Persian), Urdu or Hindi rather than Pashto. Claimants of Pashtun heritage in South Asia have mixed with local Muslim populations and refer to themselves as "Pathan", the Hindi-Urdu variant of Pashtun.[96][97] These communities are usually partial Pashtun, to varying degrees, and often trace their Pashtun ancestry putatively through a paternal lineage. The Pathans in India have lost both the language and presumably many of the ways of their putative ancestors, but trace their fathers' ethnic heritage to the Pashtun tribes. Many Bollywood superstars are prime examples of this, especially Shahrukh Khan who is a nonPashto-speaking Indian of ethnic Afghan (Pashtun) descent.[95]

Ayub Khan, President of Pakistan from 1958 to 1969, was a non-Pashto-speaker from the Tareen tribe of Abbottabad.

Ghulam Muhammad, 3rd Governor-General of Pakistan, from 1951 to 1955, was a non-Pashtospeaking Pashtun from the Kakazai tribe. Small number of Pashtuns have adopted Hindko, Seraiki and other local Pakistani languages. These languages are often found in areas such as Abbottabad, Peshawar, Mardan, Attock, Multan and Dera Ismail Khan. After migration or establishing contacts in these areas, Pashtuns began adding new languages to their existing Pashto.[98] This group of people are bilingual in Hindko and Pashto, as well as Urdu and English in many caes. They are a large minority in major cities such as Peshawar, Kohat, Mardan, and Dera Ismail Khan, including in the mixed districts of Haripur, Abbottabad and Attock. Some Indians claim descent from ethnic Afghan soldiers who settled in India by marrying local women during the Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent.[22] No specific population figures exist, as claimants of ethnic Afghan (Pashtun) descent are spread throughout the country. Notably, the Rohillas, after their defeat by the British, are known to have settled in parts of North India and intermarried with local ethnic groups. They are believed to have been bilingual in Pashto and Urdu until the mid-19th century. Some Urdu-speaking Muslims (Muhajir people) claiming descent from Pashtuns began moving to Pakistan after independence in 1947. In Bangladesh (erstwhile East Pakistan), an unknown number of ethnic Pashtuns (together with at the later stage numbers of Iranian-speakers, these often secondary migrants from north India) settled among Bengalis from the 12th century to mid 18th century. These ethnic Afghans assimilated into Bengali culture, and intermarried with native Bengali Muslims to provide a component of the modern Bengali Muslim meme and biological identity, most prominently among the older wealthy classes of Bangladeshi Muslims. Historical structures built by Afghan

descendants can still be found there. For example, the mosque of Musa Khan still remains intact in Bangladesh. He was an ethnic Pashtun and a descendant of the great Suleiman Khan, who was born in the Suleiman Mountains but moved to Bengal.[citation needed] During the 19th century, when the British were accepting peasants from British India as indentured servants to work in the Caribbean, South Africa and other far away places, some Pashtuns from areas constituting Afghanistan and modern-day Pakistan were sent to places as far as Trinidad, Surinam, Guyana, and Fiji, to work with other Indians on the sugarcane fields and perform manual labour.[99] Many of these immigrants stayed there and formed unique communities of their own. Some of them assimilated with the other South Asian Muslim nationalities to form a common Indian Muslim community in tandem with the larger Indian community, losing their distinctive heritage. Their descendants mostly speak English and other local languages. Some ethnic Afghans travelled to as far away as Australia during the same, see Afghan (Australia).

[edit] Culture
Main article: Pashtun culture

Amir Kror Suri, son of Amir Polad Suri, was an 8th century folk hero and king from the Ghor region in Afghanistan.[100][101]

Khushal Khan Khattak, 17th century Pashto poet-warrior from Akora Khattak in today's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Pashtun culture is mostly based on Pashtunwali and the use or understanding of the Pashto language. Pre-Islamic traditions, dating back to Alexander's defeat of the Persian Empire in 330 BC, possibly survived in the form of traditional dances, while literary styles and music reflect influence from the Persian tradition and regional musical instruments fused with localised variants and interpretation. Pashtun culture is a unique blend of native customs with some influences from South and Western Asia.

[edit] Pashto literature, poetry and media

Main articles: Pashto literature and poetry and Pashto media The Pashtuns speak Pashto as their native tongue, which is an Indo-European language. Spoken by up to 60 million people,[102] it belongs to the Iranian sub-group of the Indo-Iranian branch.[103] It can be further delineated within Eastern Iranian and Southeastern Iranian. Pashto is written in the Pashto-Arabic script and is divided into two main dialects, the southern "Pashto" and the northern "Pakhtu".

Mahmud Tarzi, son of Ghulam Muhammad Tarzi, became the pioneer of Afghan journalism. Pashto has ancient origins and bears similarities to extinct languages such as Avestan and Bactrian.[104] Its closest modern relatives include Pamir languages, such as Shughni and Wakhi, and Ossetic.[citation needed] Pashto has an ancient legacy of borrowing vocabulary from neighbouring languages including Persian and Vedic Sanskrit. Invaders have left vestiges as well; as Pashto has borrowed words from Ancient Greek, Arabic and Turkic. Modern borrowings come primarily from the English language.[105] Fluency in Pashto is often the main determinant of group acceptance as to who is considered a Pashtun. Pashtun nationalism emerged following the rise of Pashto poetry that linked language and ethnic identity. Pashto has national status in Afghanistan and regional status in Pakistan. In addition to their native tongue, many Pashtuns are fluent in Urdu, Dari (Persian), and English. Throughout their history, poets, prophets, kings and warriors have been among the most revered members of Pashtun society. Early written records of Pashto began to appear by the 16th

century. The earliest describes Sheikh Mali's conquest of Swat.[106] Pir Roshan is believed to have written a number of Pashto books while fighting the Mughals. Pashtun scholars such as Abdul Hai Habibi and others believe that the earliest Pashto work dates back to Amir Kror Suri in the eighth century, and they use the writings found in Pata Khazana as proof. However, this is disputed by several European experts due to lack of strong evidence. The advent of poetry helped transition Pashto to the modern period. Pashto literature gained significant prominence in the 20th century, with poetry by Ameer Hamza Shinwari who developed Pashto Ghazals.[107] In 1919, during the expanding of mass media, Mahmud Tarzi published Seraj-al-Akhbar, which became the first Pashto newspaper in Afghanistan. Some notable poets include Khushal Khan Khattak, Rahman Baba, Nazo Anaa, Ahmad Shah Durrani, Timur Shah Durrani, Shuja Shah Durrani, Ghulam Muhammad Tarzi, Afzal Khan, and Khan Abdul Ghani Khan.[108][109] Pashto media outlets play a major role in the everyday life of Pashtuns. Several Pashto TV channels are available in the Pashtun regions, which also broadcast internationally. The leading one is AVT Khyber, helping to promote the Pashtun culture with their daily programs. Viewers around the world are informed about the day to day issues in their region and amused with their entertaining shows, such as the show with Amanullah Kaker which is based on educating Pashtuns by using messages in Pashto poetry.[110] International news sources that provide Pashto programs include BBC and Voice of America. Recently, Pashto literature has received increased patronage, but many Pashtuns continue to rely on oral tradition due to relatively low literacy rates. Pashtun males continue to meet at Hujras, to listen and relate various oral tales of valor and history. Despite the general male dominance of Pashto oral story-telling, Pashtun society is also marked by some matriarchal tendencies.[111] Folktales involving reverence for Pashtun mothers and matriarchs are common and are passed down from parent to child, as is most Pashtun heritage, through a rich oral tradition that has survived the ravages of time.

[edit] Pashtunwali and tribalism

Main articles: Pashtunwali, Pashtun tribes, and Pashtun tribal structure The term "Pakhto" or "Pashto" from which the Pashtuns derive their name is not merely the name of their language, but is synonymous with a pre-Islamic honour code formally known as Pashtunwali (or Pakhtunwali). Pashtunwali governs and regulates nearly all aspects of Pashtun life ranging from tribal affairs to individual "honor" (nang) and behaviour.

Afghan provincial governors at Jalalabad in 2009, discussing security and the reconstruction of Afghanistan. From left to right: Jamaluddin Badar of Nuristan, Lutfullah Mashal of Laghman, Gul Agha Sherzai of Nangarhar, and Fazlullah Wahidi of Kunar Province. Numerous intricate tenets of Pashtunwali influence Pashtun social behaviour. One of the better known tenets is Melmastia, hospitality and asylum to all guests seeking help. Perceived injustice calls for Badal, swift revenge. A popular Pashtun saying, "Revenge is a dish best served cold", was borrowed by the British and popularised in the West.[112] Men are expected to protect Zan, Zar, Zameen (women, gold and land). Some aspects promote peaceful co-existence, such as Nanawati, the humble admission of guilt for a wrong committed, which should result in automatic forgiveness from the wronged party. Other aspects of Pashtunwali have attracted some criticism, particularly with respect to its influence on women's rights. These and other basic precepts of Pashtunwali continue to be followed by many Pashtuns, especially in rural areas. A prominent institution of the Pashtun people is the intricate system of tribes. The Pashtuns remain a predominantly tribal people, but the worldwide trend of urbanisation has begun to alter Pashtun society as cities such as Peshawar and Quetta have grown rapidly due to the influx of rural Pashtuns and Afghan refugees.[113] Despite this trend of urbanisation, many people still identify themselves with various clans. The tribal system has several levels of organisation: the tribe, tabar, is divided into kinship groups called khels, in turn divided into smaller groups (pllarina or plarganey), each consisting of several extended families called kahols.[114] Pashtun tribes are divided into four 'greater' tribal groups: Sarbans, Batians, Ghurghusht and Karlans. Another prominent Pashtun institution is the Jirga or 'Senate' of elected elder men. Most decisions in tribal life are made by members of the Jirga, which is the main institution of authority that the largely egalitarian Pashtuns willingly acknowledge as a viable governing body.[115] Pashtun celebrations and special events are also often national holidays in Pakistan and Afghanistan. A common Turko-Iranian New Year called Nouruz is often observed by Pashtuns.[116] Most prominent are Muslim holidays including Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr. Muslim holidays tend to be the most widely observed and commercial activity can come to a halt as large extended families gather in what is often both a religious duty and a festive celebration.

[edit] Religion

Main articles: Islam in Afghanistan and Islam in Pakistan

The Friday Mosque in Kandahar. Adjacent to it is the Shrine of the Cloak and the tomb of Ahmad Shah Durrani, the 18th century Pashtun conqueror who became the founding father of Afghanistan. The overwhelming majority of Pashtuns follow Sunni Islam, belonging to the Hanafi school of thought. A tiny Shi'a community of Pashtuns exists in the northeastern section of Paktia province of Afghanistan and in neighbouring Kurram Agency of FATA, Pakistan. The Shias belong to the Turi tribe while the Bangash tribe is approximately 50% Shia and the rest Sunni, who live mainly in Kohat and the Orakzai Agency of FATA, Pakistan.

A meeting after a religious shura in Kandahar, Afghanistan, which was attended by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to offer peace talks with the Taliban. Studies conducted among the Ghilzai reveal strong links between tribal affiliation and membership in the larger ummah (Islamic community). Afghan historians believe that Pashtuns are descendants of Qais Abdur Rashid, who is purported to have been an early convert to Islam and thus bequeathed the faith to the early Pashtun population.[18][54][117] The legend says that after Qais heard of the new religion of Islam, he travelled to meet Muhammad in Medina and returned to Afghanistan as a Muslim. He purportedly had four children: Sarban, Batan, Ghourghusht and Karlan. It is believed that some Pashtuns may have been Buddhists, Zoroastrians, Hindus and

Jews before Islam was introduced to them in the 7th century. However, these theories remain without conclusive evidence. A legacy of Sufi activity may be found in some Pashtun regions, especially in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa area, as evident in songs and dances. Many Pashtuns are prominent Ulema, Islamic scholars, such as Muhammad Muhsin Khan who has helped translate the Noble Quran, Sahih AlBukhari and many other books to the English language.[118] Jamal-al-Din al-Afghani was a 19th century Islamic ideologist and one of the founders of Islamic modernism. Although his ethnicity is disputed by some, he is widely accepted in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region as well as in the Arab world, as a Pashtun from the Kunar Province of Afghanistan. Like other non Arabicspeaking Muslims, many Pashtuns are able to read the Quran but not understand the Arabic language implicit in the holy text itself. Translations, especially in English, are scarcely far and in between understood or distributed. This paradox has contributed to the spread of different versions of religious practices and Wahabism, as well as political Islamism (including movements such as the Taliban) having a key presence in Pashtun society. In order to counter radicalisation and fundamentalism, the United States began English classes in Afghanistan so that Pashtuns will be able to read the English translation of Quran instead of trusting in religious scholars.[119][120] Many Pashtuns want to reclaim their identity from being lumped in with the Taliban and international terrorism, which is not directly linked with Pashtun culture and history.[121] Lastly, little information is available on non-Muslim Pashtuns as there is limited data regarding irreligious groups and minorities, especially since many of the Hindu and Sikh Pashtuns migrated from Pakhtunkhwa after the partition of India and later, after the rise of the Taliban.[122][123] There is, however, an affirmed community of Sikh Pashtuns residing in Peshawar, Parachinar, and Orakzai Agency of FATA, Pakistan.[124] The origins of the Sikh Pashtuns are unclear. Various speculations about their origins state that they are either the descendants of Pashtun converts made by the 16th century Sikh missionary, Bhai Gurdas during his travels to Kabul, offspring of those Pashtuns whom Guru Nanak met on his voyages west of the Indus River, or the legacy of Maharaja Ranjit Singhs huge 19th century empire, which in his own words, extended to the limits of the Afghans.[125]

[edit] Performing arts

Further information: Pashto music Pashtun performers remain avid participants in various physical forms of expression including dance, sword fighting, and other physical feats. Perhaps the most common form of artistic expression can be seen in the various forms of Pashtun dances.

A Pakistani man doing Khattak Dance

Farhad Darya in 2010 One of the most prominent dances is Attan, which has ancient roots possibly Greek. A rigorous exercise, Attan is performed as musicians play various native instruments including the dhol (drums), tablas (percussions), rubab (a bowed string instrument), and toola (wooden flute). With a rapid circular motion, dancers perform until no one is left dancing, similar to Sufi whirling dervishes. Numerous other dances are affiliated with various tribes notably from Pakistan including the Khattak Wal Atanrh (eponymously named after the Khattak tribe), Mahsood Wal Atanrh (which, in modern times, involves the juggling of loaded rifles), and Waziro Atanrh among others. A sub-type of the Khattak Wal Atanrh known as the Braghoni involves the use of up to three swords and requires great skill. Young women and girls often entertain at weddings with the Tumbal (tambourine). Traditional Pashtun music has ties to Klasik (traditional Afghan music heavily inspired by Hindustani classical music), Iranian musical traditions, and other various forms found in South Asia. Popular forms include the ghazal (sung poetry) and Sufi qawwali music. Themes revolve around love and religious introspection. Modern Pashto music is centred around the city of Peshawar due to the wars in Afghanistan, and tends to combine indigenous techniques and instruments with Iranian-inspired Persian music and Indian Filmi music prominent in Bollywood. Some well known Pashto singers include Nashenas, Ubaidullah Jan Kandaharai, Sardar Ali Takkar, Naghma, Rahim Shah, Farhad Darya, Nazia Iqbal, and a number of others.

Other modern Pashtun media include an established Pashto-language film and television industry that is based in Pakistan. Producers based in Lahore have created Pashto-language films since the 1970s. Pashto films were once popular, but have declined both commercially and critically in recent years. Past films such as Yusuf Khan Sherbano dealt with serious subject matter, traditional stories, and legends. Pashtun lifestyle and issues have been raised by Western and Pashtun expatriate film-makers in recent years. One such film is In This World by British filmmaker Michael Winterbottom,[126] which chronicles the struggles of two Afghan youths who leave their refugee camps in Pakistan and try to move to the United Kingdom in search of a better life. Another is the British mini-series Traffik, re-made as the American film Traffic, which featured a Pashtun man (played by Jamal Shah) struggling to survive in a world with few opportunities outside the drug trade.[127]

[edit] Sports
Further information: Sport in Afghanistan and Sport in Pakistan

Imran Khan, who made it to the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009, seen in this photo lifting the 1992 Cricket World Cup for Pakistan. The most popular sport among the Pashtuns is cricket, which was introduced to South Asia during the early 18th century with the arrival of the British. Many Pashtuns have become prominent international cricketers in the last several decades, such as Shahid Afridi, Imran Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Gul, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Junaid Khan and Younis Khan.[128] It has spread from Pakistan into Afghanistan in recent years, with many stadiums being built there. The Afghanistan national cricket team is dominated by Pashtun players. Football (soccer) is considered the second most popular sport among the Pashtuns. The current captain of Pakistan national football team, Muhammad Essa, is an ethnic Pashtun from the Balochistan province. Another top player from the same area was Abdul Wahid Durrani, who scored 15 international goals in 13 games and became the captain of the team. The Afghanistan national football team includes a number of Pashtun players. Some Pashtuns participate in various other sports, which may include: basketball, golf, field hockey, track and field, volleyball, handball, bodybuilding, weightlifting, wrestling (pehlwani), martial arts, boxing, skating, bowling, snooker and chess. Traditional sports include naiza bazi, which involves horsemen who compete in spear throwing. Pashtuns living in the northern

regions of Afghanistan engage in Buzkashi, which is another ancient central Asian sport played by riding on horses.[129] In recent decades Hayatullah Khan Durrani, Pride of Performance caving legend from Quetta, has been promoting mountaineering, rock climbing and caving in Pakistan. Squash is a sport in which Pashtuns from Pakistan became legend in. Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan are former world champions of squash, making it to the Guinness World Records. They are considered to be the greatest professional squash players of all time. Although now retired, they are engaged in promoting the sport through the Pakistan Squash Federation.[130] Snooker and billiards are played by young Pashtun men, mainly in urban areas where snooker clubs are found. Several prominent international recognised snooker players are from the Pashtun area, including Saleh Mohammed. Children's games include a form of marbles called buzul-bazi, which is played with the knucklebones of sheep. Although traditionally very less involved in sports than boys, young Pashtun girls often play volleyball, basketball, football, and cricket, especially in urban areas. A favourite game of the Pashtuns in southwestern Pakistan is yanda, mainly in and around Pishin.

[edit] Family life

Further information: Afghan wedding and Marriage in Pakistan This section requires expansion. In Pashtun culture, it is often considered preferable to marry someone from the same ethnicity, but not necessarily from the same tribe. Arranged marriages are common in rural villages, although urban or educated Pashtuns sometimes select their own spouses.[131] Weddings are often three days events, starting with the 'henna party' on the first day, followed by the main wedding day, and ending with a gifts party on the third day. A day before the wedding, neighbouring families bring food in preparation for the ceremony, and the women often dye their hands with henna.[132] Wealthy Pashtuns often rent a wedding hall inside a hotel for three days, whilst less wealthy families usually host their weddings inside the house or build a large tent outside; in most weddings, males and females sit separately. A report by the US military in Afghanistan described instances of male homosexual behaviour in the Kandahar Province. The report went on to state that whilst the practice is known of locally, local Pashtuns completely reject the label of 'homosexual'.[133] Fox News explains that: "Though U.S. troops are commonly taught in training for Afghanistan that the 'effeminate characteristics' of Pashtun men are 'normal' and not an indicator of homosexuality, the report said U.S. forces should not 'dismiss' the unique version of homosexuality that is actually practiced in the region 'out of desire to avoid western discomfort'." Justin Richardson, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, explains that calling these people homosexual is incorrect because "their decision to have sex with other men is not a reflection of what Westerners call gender identity." In addition, all the people interviewed have denied being homosexual.[134][133] Another report that deals with LGBT rights in Pakistan mentions that in the Northwest Frontier Province, Pashtun men have gained notoriety for a

practice known as bacha bazi.[135] It is not known, with any accuracy, how prevalent practices like these are, some believe that prevalence is high, but others assert that it is no greater than the prevalence of homosexuality in the other ethnic groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan.[136]

[edit] Women
Further information: Women's rights in Afghanistan and Women in Pakistan In Pashtun society there are three levels of women's leadership and legislative authority: the national level, the village level, and the family level. The national level includes women such as Nazo Tokhi (Nazo Anaa), Zarghona Anaa, and Malalai of Maiwand. Nazo Anaa was a prominent 17th century Pashto poet and an educated Pashtun woman who eventually became the "Mother of Afghan Nationalism" after gaining authority through her poetry and upholding of the Pashtunwali code. She used the Pashtunwali law to unite the Pashtun tribes against their Persian enemies. Her cause was picked up in the early 18th century by Zarghona Anaa, the mother of Ahmad Shah Durrani.[137]

Young school girls in the Bamozai village of Paktia Province in Afghanistan.

Commando Radio-Kabul's newest DJ, Pashtana Shenwari, speaks to listeners on-the-air from the radio station at Camp Morehead in Afghanistan. The lives of Pashtun women vary from those who reside in conservative rural areas, such as the tribal belt, to those found in relatively freer urban centres.[138] At the village level, the female village leader is called "qaryadar". Her duties may include witnessing women's ceremonies, mobilising women to practice religious festivals, preparing the female dead for burial, and performing services for deceased women. She also arranges marriages for her own family and arbitrates conflicts for men and women.[137] Though many Pashtun women remain tribal and illiterate, others have become educated and gainfully employed.[138]

Zeenat Karzai, wife of Hamid Karzai, representing the women of Afghanistan at a meeting in 2005, is sitting on the right next to the former First Lady of the United States, Laura Bush.

Shukria Barakzai, member of the National Assembly of Afghanistan The decades war and the rise of the Taliban caused considerable hardship among Pashtun women, as many of their rights were curtailed by a rigid and inaccurate interpretation of Islamic law. The difficult lives of Afghan female refugees gained considerable notoriety with the iconic image of the so-called "Afghan Girl" (Sharbat Gula) depicted on the June 1985 cover of National Geographic magazine.[139] The male-dominated code of Pashtunwali often constrains women and forces them into designated traditional roles that separate the genders.[140] Modern social reform for Pashtun women began in the early 20th century, when Queen Soraya Tarzi of Afghanistan made rapid reforms to improve women's lives and their position in the family. Her advocacy of social reforms for women led to widespread protest and contributed to the ultimate demise of King Amanullah's reign.[141] Civil rights remained an important issue during the 1970s, as feminist leader Meena Keshwar Kamal campaigned for women's rights and founded the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) in the 1977.[142] Today, Pashtun women vary from the traditional housewives who live in seclusion to urban workers, some of whom seek or have attained parity with men.[138] But due to numerous social hurdles, the literacy rate remains considerably lower for Pashtun females than for males.[143][144] Abuse against women is present and increasingly being challenged by women's rights organisations which find themselves struggling with conservative religious groups as well as government officials in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. According to researcher Benedicte

Grima's book Performance of Emotion Among Paxtun Women, "a powerful ethic of forbearance severely limits the ability of traditional Pashtun women to mitigate the suffering they acknowledge in their lives."[145] Pashtun women often have their legal rights curtailed in favour of their husbands or male relatives. For example, though women are officially allowed to vote in Afghanistan and Pakistan, some have been kept away from ballot boxes by males.[146] Traditionally, Pashtun women have few inheritance rights and are often charged with taking care of large extended families of their spouses.[147] Another tradition that persists is swara, the giving of a female relative to someone in order to rectify a dispute. It was declared illegal in Pakistan in 2000 but continues in tribal regions.[148] Despite obstacles, many Pashtun women have begun a process of slow change. A rich oral tradition and resurgence of poetry has inspired many Pashtun women seeking to learn to read and write.[111] Further challenging the status quo, Vida Samadzai was selected as Miss Afghanistan in 2003, a feat that was received with a mixture of support from those who back the individual rights of women and those who view such displays as anti-traditionalist and un-Islamic. Some Pashtun women have attained high political office in Pakistan.[citation needed] In Afghanistan, following recent elections, the proportion of female political representatives is one of the highest in the world.[149] A number of Pashtun women are found as TV hosts, journalists, actors and singers on several TV outlets, especially at AVT Khyber.[110] A Pashtun woman, Khatol Mohammadzai, recently became a paratrooper in the Afghan National Army Air Force, another one became a fighter pilot in the Pakistan Air Force.[150] Some notable Pashtun women of Afghanistan include Suhaila Seddiqi, Shukria Barakzai, Fauzia Gailani, Zeenat Karzai, Malalai Kakar, Naghma, and Najiba Faiz.[151] Substantial work remains for Pashtun women to gain equal rights with men, who remain disproportionately dominant in most aspects of Pashtun society. Human rights organisations continue to struggle for greater women's rights, such as the Afghan Women's Network and the Aurat Foundation in Pakistan which aims to protect women from domestic violence.[152][153] Due to recent reforms in the higher education commission (HEC) of Pakistan, a number of competent Pashtun female scholars have been able to earn Masters and PhD scholarships. Most of them have proceeded to USA, UK and other developed countries with support from their families.[citation needed]

[edit] See also

Pakthas Theory of Pashtun descent from Rajputs Nimat Allah al-Harawi Author of Tarikh-i-Khan Jahani Makhzan-i-Afghani (The History of the Afghans)

[edit] Notes and references

Note: population statistics for Pashtuns (including those without a notation) in foreign countries were derived from various census counts, the UN, the CIA World Factbook and Ethnologue.

1. ^ a b c Lewis, Paul M. (2009). "Pashto, Northern". SIL International. Dallas, Texas: Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition. Retrieved 18 September 2010. "Ethnic population: 49,529,000 possibly total Pashto in all countries." 2. ^ a b "Pakistan Index: Tracking Variables of Reconstruction & Security". Brookings Institution. 29 June 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2011. 3. ^ "Afghan Population: 28,395,716 [Pashtun 42%"]. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The World Factbook. Retrieved 8 September 2010. 4. ^ "United Arab Emirates: Demography". Encyclopdia Britannica World Data. Encyclopdia Britannica Online. Retrieved 15 March 2008. 5. ^ "Ethnologue report for Southern Pashto: Iran (1993)". SIL International. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Retrieved 8 September 2010. 6. ^ Maclean, William (10 June 2009). "Support for Taliban dives among British Pashtuns". Reuters. Retrieved 6 August 2009. 7. ^ "Ethnic origins, 2006 counts, for Canada". 2.statcan.ca. 2006. Retrieved 17 April 2010. 8. ^ a b "Abstract of speakers strength of languages and mother tongues 2001". Census of India. 2001. Retrieved 17 March 2008. 9. ^ "Language Spoken at Home". US Census Bureau. 2001. Retrieved 15 March 2008. 10. ^ "Afghanistan: Pashtun, Southern of Afghanistan". Joshua Project. Retrieved 10 September 2010. 11. ^ "Afghanistan: Glossary". British Library. Retrieved 15 March 2008. "Comes to mean Pathans residing in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Divided into two main groups, the Abdalis (qv) and the Ghilzais (qv)." 12. ^ a b c d Sabahuddin, Abdul (2008). History of Afghanistan. Global Vision Publishing Ho. p. 15. ISBN 8182202469. Retrieved 23 September 2010. 13. ^ a b Nath, Samir (2002). Dictionary of Vedanta. Sarup & Sons. p. 273. ISBN 8178900564. Retrieved 10 September 2010. 14. ^ a b "The History of Herodotus Chapter 7". Translated by George Rawlinson. The History Files. 440 BC. Retrieved 10 January 2007. 15. ^ a b c d "Afghan and Afghanistan". Abdul Hai Habibi. alamahabibi.com. 1969. Retrieved 24 October 2010. 16. ^ a b "History of Afghanistan". Encyclopdia Britannica Online. Retrieved 22 November 2010. 17. ^ a b "Afghan". Ch. M. Kieffer. Encyclopdia Iranica Online Edition. 15 December 1983. Retrieved 27 September 2010. 18. ^ a b c d Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah (Firishta). "History of the Mohamedan Power in India". Persian Literature in Translation. Packard Humanities Institute. Retrieved 10 January 2007. 19. ^ a b Romano, Amy (2003). A Historical Atlas of Afghanistan. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 28. ISBN 0823938638. Retrieved 17 October 2010. 20. ^ a b Louis Dupree, Nancy Hatch Dupree and others. "Last Afghan empire". Encyclopdia Britannica Online. Retrieved 10 September 2010.

21. ^ Syed Saleem Shahzad (20 October 2006). "Profiles of Pakistan's Seven Tribal Agencies". Retrieved 22 April 2010. 22. ^ a b Study of the Pathan Communities in Four States of India, Khyber.org. Retrieved 30 January 2008. 23. ^ "Ethnic map of Afghanistan" (PDF). Thomas Gouttierre, Center For Afghanistan Studies, University of Nebraska at Omaha; Matthew S. Baker, Stratfor. National Geographic Society. 2003. Retrieved 24 October 2010. 24. ^ Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (17 July 2009). "Pakistan: Karachi's Invisible Enemy City potent refuge for Taliban fighters". Frontline on PBS. Retrieved 15 March 2008. 25. ^ Syed Saleem Shahzad (10 Jan 2007). "How the Taliban keep their coffers full". Retrieved 10 September 2010. 26. ^ 300 Pashtuns held in crackdown, The Nation. 8 April 2009. 27. ^ "Ethnic groups". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Retrieved 8 September 2010. 28. ^ Janda, Kenneth; Jeffrey M. Berry and Jerry Goldman (2008). The Challenge of Democracy: Government in America (9 ed.). Cengage Learning. p. 46. ISBN 061881017X. Retrieved 22 August 2010. "Even within the largest ethnic group, the Pashtuns (about 50 percent of the population)..."" 29. ^ Congressional Record. Government Printing Office. p. 10088. Retrieved 24 September 2010. 30. ^ Taylor, William J. Jr.; Abraham Kim (2000). Asian Security to the Year 2000. DIANE Publishing. p. 58. ISBN 1428913688. Retrieved 24 September 2010. 31. ^ "AFGHANISTAN v. Languages". Ch. M. Kieffer. Encyclopdia Iranica. Retrieved 24 October 2010. "Pat (1) is the native tongue of 50 to 55 percent of Afghans..." 32. ^ Brown, Keith; Sarah Ogilvie (2009). Concise encyclopedia of languages of the world. Elsevie. p. 845. ISBN 0080877745. Retrieved 24 September 2010. "Pashto, which is mainly spoken south of the mountain range of the Hindu Kush, is reportedly the mother tongue of 60% of the Afghan population." 33. ^ Hawthorne, Susan; Bronwyn Winter (2002). September 11, 2001: feminist perspectives. Spinifex Press. p. 225. ISBN 1876756276. Retrieved 24 September 2010. "Over 60 percent of the population in Afghanistan is Pashtun..." 34. ^ "2010 UNHCR country operations profile Pakistan". United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). 2010. Retrieved 17 April 2010. 35. ^ "2010 UNHCR country operations profile Islamic Republic of Iran". United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). 2010. Retrieved 17 April 2010. 36. ^ "The Afghans Their History and Culture". Barbara Robson, Juliene Lipson, Farid Younos, Mariam Mehdi. United States: Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL). 30 June 2002. Retrieved 10 September 2010. 37. ^ "Country Profile: Afghanistan". Library of Congress. Library of Congress Country Studies on Afghanistan. August 2008. Retrieved 10 September 2010. 38. ^ "Kingdoms of South Asia Afghanistan (Southern Khorasan / Arachosia)". The History Files. Retrieved 16 August 2010. 39. ^ John Ford Shroder. "Afghanistan VII. History". Retrieved 31 October 2009. 40. ^ a b "Pashtun: also spelled Pushtun, or Pakhtun, Hindustani Pathan, Persian Afghan". Encyclopdia Britannica Online. Retrieved 10 September 2010. "The origins of the Pashtun are unclear. Pashtun tradition asserts that they are descended from Afghana,

grandson of King Saul of Israel, though most scholars believe it more likely that they arose from an intermingling of ancient Aryans from the north or west with subsequent invaders." 41. ^ Lal, Mohan (1846). Life of the Amir Dost Mohammed Khan; of Kabul. Volume 1.. Crabtree Publishing Company. p. 3. ISBN 0778793354. Retrieved 10 September 2010. 42. ^ a b c Vogelsang, Willem (2002). The Afghans. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 18. ISBN 0631198415. Retrieved 22 August 2010. 43. ^ Dani, Ahmad Hasan (2007). History of Pakistan: Pakistan through ages. Sang-e Meel Publications. p. 77. ISBN 9693520203. Retrieved 10 September 2010. 44. ^ a b Houtsma, Martijn Theodoor (1987). E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913 1936. 2. BRILL. p. 150. ISBN 9004082654. Retrieved 24 September 2010. 45. ^ a b Noelle-Karimi, Christine; Conrad J. Schetter, Reinhard Schlagintweit (2002). Afghanistan -a country without a state?. IKO. p. 18. ISBN 3889396283. Retrieved 24 September 2010. "The earliest mention of the name 'Afghan' (Abgan) is to be found in a Sasanid inscription from the third century AD, and it appears in India in the form of 'Avagana'..." 46. ^ a b c "The Pashtuns". Barbara Robson, Juliene Lipson, Farid Younos, Mariam Mehdi. United States: Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL). 30 June 2002. Retrieved 10 September 2010. 47. ^ "Claims About Origin". Syed Zubir Rehman. pakhtun.com. Retrieved 24 October 2010. 48. ^ Dawn News, The cradle of Pathan culture 49. ^ "Islamic conquest". Library of Congress Country Studies on Afghanistan. 1997. Retrieved 10 September 2010. 50. ^ V. Minorsky. "The Turkish dialect of the Khalaj". University of London. pp. 417437. Retrieved 10 January 2007. 51. ^ Houtsma, Martijn Theodoor (1987). E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913 1936. 2. BRILL. p. 151. ISBN 9004082654. Retrieved 24 September 2010. 52. ^ Travels in Asia and Africa, 13251354 (reprint, illustrated ed.). Routledge. 2004. p. 180. ISBN 0415344735. Retrieved 10 September 2010. 53. ^ Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah (1560-16-20). "The History of India, Volume 6, chpt. 200, Translation of the Introduction to Firishta's History (p.8)". Sir H. M. Elliot. London: Packard Humanities Institute. Retrieved 22 August 2010. 54. ^ a b Life of the Amir Dost Mohammed Khan; of Kabul, Volume 1. By Mohan Lal (1846), pg.5 55. ^ Alden Oreck. "The Virtual Jewish History Tour, Afghanistan". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 10 January 2007. 56. ^ Caroe, Olaf. 1984. The Pathans: 500 B.C.-A.D. 1957 (Oxford in Asia Historical Reprints)." Oxford University Press. 57. ^ Mansoor A, Mazhar K, Khaliq S, et al. (April 2004). "Investigation of the Greek ancestry of populations from northern Pakistan". Hum Genet 114 (5): 48490. doi:10.1007/s00439-004-1094-x. PMID 14986106. 58. ^ Ethnic Groups, Pashtun, Library of Congress Country Studies on Afghanistan 59. ^ "Language Roots". Barbara Robson, Juliene Lipson, Farid Younos, Mariam Mehdi. United States: Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL). 30 June 2002. Retrieved 10 September 2010. 60. ^ "Old Iranian Online". University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved 10 February 2007.

61. ^ Gankovsky, Yu. V. (1982). A History of Afghanistan. Progress Publishers. p. 382. 62. ^ Quddus, Syed Abdul (1987). The Pathans. Moscow: Ferozsons. p. 29. Retrieved 25 October 2010. 63. ^ Sengupta S, Zhivotovsky LA, King R, et al. (2006). "Polarity and temporality of highresolution y-chromosome distributions in India identify both indigenous and exogenous expansions and reveal minor genetic influence of central asian pastoralists". Am. J. Hum. Genet. 78 (2): 20221. doi:10.1086/499411. PMC 1380230. PMID 16400607. 64. ^ Firasat S, Khaliq S, Mohyuddin A, et al. (2007). "Y-chromosomal evidence for a limited Greek contribution to the Pathan population of Pakistan". Eur. J. Hum. Genet. 15 (1): 1216. doi:10.1038/sj.ejhg.5201726. PMC 2588664. PMID 17047675. 65. ^ "YHRD.org: Result for haplotype 16-13-30-23-11-11-131--11". 66. ^ "YHRD.org: Result for haplotype 17-13-30-23-11-11-131--11". 67. ^ Firasat S, Khaliq S, Mohyuddin A, et al. (January 2007). "Y-chromosomal evidence for a limited Greek contribution to the Pathan population of Pakistan". Eur J Hum Genet. 15 (1): 1216. doi:10.1038/sj.ejhg.5201726. PMC 2588664. PMID 17047675. 68. ^ McCarthy, Rory (17 January 2010). "Pashtun clue to lost tribes of Israel". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 7 June 2009. 69. ^ Parashar, Sachin (11 January 2010). "Lucknow Pathans have Jewish roots?". The Times of India (India). Retrieved 7 June 2009. 70. ^ a b "Link between Israel's lost tribes and Pashtuns of Af-Pak to be genetically analyzed". Newkerala.com. Retrieved 17 April 2010. 71. ^ Ricaut, F. et al. 2004. Genetic Analysis of a Scytho-Siberian Skeleton and Its Implications for Ancient Central Asian Migrations. Human Biology. 76 (1): 109125 72. ^ Bouakaze, 2009 :Pigment phenotype and biogeographical ancestry from ancient skeletal remains: inferences from multiplexed autosomal SNP analysis 73. ^ Ricaut,F. et al. 2004. Genetic Analysis and Ethnic Affinities From Two ScythoSiberian Skeletons. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 123:351360 74. ^ Clisson, I. et al. 2002. Genetic analysis of human remains from a double inhumation in a frozen kurgan in Kazakhstan (Berel site, Early 3rd century BC). International Journal of Legal Medicine. 116:304308 75. ^ Keyser, Christine (16 May 2009). "Ancient DNA provides new insights into the history of south Siberian Kurgan people". Human Genetics. Retrieved 6 April 2010. 76. ^ Edward G. Browne, M.A., M.B.. "A Literary History of Persia, Volume 4: Modern Times (15001924), Chapter IV. An Outline Of The History Of Persia During The Last Two Centuries (A.D. 17221922)". London: Packard Humanities Institute. Retrieved 9 September 2010. 77. ^ Ramesh Chopra (2005). Dictionary Of History. Isha Books. Retrieved 17 September 2011. "Ashfaqulla Khan : The Pathan patriot who kissed the hangman's noose with the name of Allah on his lips. A youth endowed with a body of iron and will of steel, he dedicated everything to the service of India and of freedom and challenged the cunning and the strength of an empire." 78. ^ "Abdul Ghaffar Khan". Encyclopdia Britannica Online. Retrieved 24 September 2008. 79. ^ "Abdul Ghaffar Khan". I Love India. Retrieved 24 September 2008. 80. ^ "People and Tribes". 81. ^ "Mohammad Yousaf Khan Khattak".

82. ^ Afghanistan: At the Crossroads of Ancient Civilisations, BBC. Retrieved 10 October 2006. 83. ^ Afghan Government 2009, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) 84. ^ Sharma, Vishwamitra (2007). Famous Indians of the 21st century. Pustak Mahal. p. 60. ISBN 8122308295. Retrieved 18 September 2010. 85. ^ Frq, Ziulasan (1999). Dr. Zakir Hussain, quest for truth (by Ziulasan Frq). APH Publishing. p. 8. ISBN 8176480568. Retrieved 18 September 2010. 86. ^ Johri, P.K (1999). Educational thought. Anmol Publications PVT. LTD. p. 267. ISBN 8126121750. Retrieved 18 September 2010. 87. ^ "To Islamabad and the Frontier". The Hindu (Chennai, India). 26 May 2003. Retrieved 1 August 2007. 88. ^ Darbari, Raj (1983). Commonwealth and Nehru. Vision Books. p. 28. ISBN 8126121750. Retrieved 20 April 2008. 89. ^ The Pathan unarmed: opposition & memory in the North West Frontier (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). James Currey. "He was visiting his cousin Mohammed Yunus, a Pathan who had chosen to move to Delhi at Partition and become a well-known figure in the Congress regime." 90. ^ Encyclopdia of Muslim Biography. A.P.H. Pub. Corp.. "Mohammad Yunus is belong to a rich and distinguished Pathan family and son of Haji Ghulam Samdani (1827 1926)." 91. ^ a b "Pashtun". Encyclopdia Britannica Online Edition. Retrieved 18 January 2007. 92. ^ "Pakistan: Pakhtuns". Library of Congress Country Studies. Retrieved 18 January 2007. 93. ^ "The Pashtun Code". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 17 November 2006. Retrieved 18 January 2007. 94. ^ Krastev, Nikola (19 June 2007). "U.S.: Afghan Jews Keep Traditions Alive Far From Home". RFE/RL. Retrieved 17 April 2010. 95. ^ a b "SRK to Amar Singh: Don't you scare my kids". Rediff. 16 March 2007. Retrieved 5 July 2006. 96. ^ "Memons, Khojas, Cheliyas, Moplahs.... How Well Do You Know Them?". Islamic Voice (magazine). Retrieved 18 January 2007. 97. ^ "Pathan". Houghton Mifflin Company. Retrieved 7 November 2007. 98. ^ Shackle, C. (1980). Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 43 (3 ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 482510. Retrieved 18 January 2007. 99. ^ "Afghans of Guyana". Wahid Momand. Afghanland.com. Retrieved 18 January 2007. 100. ^ Afghan Monarchs: Sher Shah Suri, Amanullah Khan, Habibullah Khan, Amir Kror Suri. London: General Books. 2010. pp. 26. ISBN 1156384257, 9781156384251. Retrieved 26 September 2010. 101. ^ Afghanistan. 2022. Historical Society of Afghanistan. 1967. p. 47. Retrieved 26 September 2010. 102. ^ Penzl, Herbert; Ismail Sloan (2009). A Grammar of Pashto a Descriptive Study of the Dialect of Kandahar, Afghanistan. Ishi Press International. pp. 210. ISBN 0923891722. Retrieved 25 October 2010. "Estimates of the number of Pashto speakers range from 40 million to 60 million..." 103. ^ Pashto language, alphabet and pronunciation, Omniglot. Retrieved 18 January 2007.

104. ^ Avestan language, Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 18 February 2007. 105. ^ Awde, Nicholas and Asmatullah Sarwan. 2002. Pashto: Dictionary & Phrasebook, New York: Hippocrene Books Inc. ISBN 0-7818-0972-X. Retrieved 18 February 2007. 106. ^ History of Pushto language, UCLA Language Materials Project. Retrieved 18 January 2007. 107. ^ Amir Hamza Shinwari Baba, Khyber.org. Retrieved 18 January 2007. 108. ^ Afghanistan Online, Classical Dari and Pashto Poets 109. ^ "Rahman Baba: Poet of the Pashtuns". Archived from the original on 17 April 2007. Pashto.org. Retrieved 18 January 2007. 110. ^ a b AVT Khyber, Link 111. ^ a b The tale of the Pashtun poetess, Leela Jacinto, The Boston Globe, 22 May 2005. Retrieved 18 January 2007. 112. ^ Halliday, Tony (ed.). 1998. Insight Guide Pakistan, Duncan, South Carolina: Langenscheidt Publishing Group. ISBN . Retrieved 19 February 2007. 113. ^ How Ethno-Religious Identity Influences the Living Conditions of Hazara and Pashtun Refugees in Peshawar, Pakistan, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, MIT . Retrieved 10 October 2006. 114. ^ Jirga A Traditional Mechanism of Conflict Resolution in Afghanistan by Ali Wardak, un.org (2003), p. 7. Retrieved 10 October 2006. 115. ^ Q & A on Afghanistan's Loya Jirga Process, Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 10 October 2006. 116. ^ Noruz, Encyclopaedia Britannica . Retrieved 10 October 2006. 117. ^ Meaning and Practice, Afghanistan Country Study: Religion, Illinois Institute of Technology. Retrieved 18 January 2007. 118. ^ The Noble Quran (in 9 VOLUMES), Arabic-English, (ed. Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan). Retrieved 18 January 2007. 119. ^ U.S. Embassy in Kabul 120. ^ 110605-F-BH761-037 Isafmedia. 121. ^ Pashtuns want an image change (BBC News article by Ahmed Rashid 2006) 122. ^ Ali, Tariq (2003). The clash of fundamentalisms: crusades, jihads and modernity. Verso. ISBN 9781859844571. Retrieved 20 April 2008. "The friends from Peshawar would speak of Hindu and Sikh Pashtuns who had migrated to India. In the tribal areas the no man's land between Afghanistan and Pakistan quite a few Hindus stayed on and were protected by the tribal codes. The same was true in Afghanistan itself (till the mujahidin and the Taliban arrived)." 123. ^ Trimbur, John (10 August 2004). The call to write. Pearson Longman. ISBN 9780321203052. Retrieved 20 April 2008. "The friends from Peshawar would speak of Hindu and Sikh Pashtuns who had migrated to India. In the tribal areas the noman's land between Afghanistan and Pakistan quite a few Hindus stayed on and were protected by the tribal codes. The same was true in Afghanistan itself (till the mujahidin and the Taliban arrived)." 124. ^ "The Frontier Singhs". Newsline Publications (Pvt.) Ltd.. Retrieved 7 June 2009. "There is a small Sikh community in the largely ungoverned Orakzai tribal region, while a few live in Kurram's regional headquarters of Parachinar. They consider themselves "sons of the soil" Pashtuns to be more specific and are identified as such.

"We are proud to be Pashtuns," says Sahib Singh. "Pashto is our tongue, our mother tongue and we are proud of it."" 125. ^ Empires of the Indus: The Story of a River, Alice Albinia, W. W. Norton & Company, 2010, p. 113 126. ^ Michael Winterbottom Talks About His Tragic Road Movie, "In This World", Indiewire.com . Retrieved 18 January 2007. 127. ^ Traffik, IMDb . Retrieved 18 January 2007. 128. ^ Adams, Tim (2 July 2006). "The path of Khan". The Observer (London). Retrieved 18 January 2007. "Not long after his cricket career ended Imran visited those tribal homelands for the first time to write a book about the warrior race of which he is a distant cousin... "As I got to know the Pathans' character," he says, "I recognised in it the competitiveness I was born with and the determination not to show fear."" 129. ^ "Afghanistan to Bosnia Herzegovina Pashtun". Everycultur.com. Retrieved 18 January 2007. 130. ^ "Jansher joins hands with PSF". Pak Tribune. 1 December 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2010. 131. ^ Afghan Frontier: At the Crossroads of Conflict, by Victoria Schofield, p 208 132. ^ My life with the Taliban, Abdul Salam Zaeef, Abd al-Salm Zaf, Alex Strick van Linschoten, Felix Kuehn, p xiv 133. ^ a b Fox News: Afghan sexual identity 134. ^ Kandahars Lightly Veiled Homosexual Habits 135. ^ open secrets, Boston Globe 136. ^ Foucault and the Iranian Revolution: gender and the seductions of Islamism By Janet Afary, Kevin Anderson, Michel Foucault, p 157 Compassion: the culture and politics of an emotion By Lauren Gail Berlant, p 213 Ethnicity and family therapy By Monica McGoldrick, Joseph Giordano, Nydia Garcia-Preto, p 416 Denied by many Pashtuns: Empires of the Indus: The Story of a River By Alice Albinia, p 42 Western newspapers have reported that after the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan local Afghans complained about the comeback of a series of sexual practices including "the Pashtun obsession with sodomy" and dandyism, paedophilia, homosexual, rape and gay activity: Owens, Patriciat. 2010. Torture, Sex and Military Orientalism. Third World Quarterly Vol. 31, No. 7. 137. ^ a b Harvard University, Tribal Law of Pashtunwali and Womens Legislative Authority 138. ^ a b c I have a right to, BBC World Service, Fri 16 January 2006. Retrieved 10 October 2006. 139. ^ Along Afghanistan's War-torn Frontier, National Geographic, June 1985 . Retrieved 10 October 2006. 140. ^ Afghan teacher and public servant gunned down by the Taliban outside her home, The Guardian, 16 January 2006. Retrieved 10 October 2006. 141. ^ "A History of Women in Afghanistan: Lessons Learnt for the Future". Dr. Huma Ahmed-Ghosh. Aletta. May 2003. Retrieved 2 December 2010.

142. ^ Making Waves: Interview with RAWA, RAWA.org, Fri 16 January 2006. Retrieved 10 October 2006. 143. ^ Population by Level of Education and Gender, Pakistan Census, Fri 16 January 2006 . Retrieved 10 October 2006. 144. ^ Laura Bush Meets Afghan Women, CBS News, Fri 16 January 2006. Retrieved 10 October 2006. 145. ^ Grima, Benedicte. 1992. Performance of Emotion Among Paxtun Women, University of Texas Press. ISBN 0292727569. Retrieved 10 October 2006. 146. ^ I have a right to Muhammad Dawood Azami: Pashto, BBC World Service . Retrieved 10 October 2006. 147. ^ Afghanistan Country Study: Family, Government Documents Depository Website, Paul V. Galvin Library, Illinois Institute of Technology . Retrieved 10 October 2006. 148. ^ Pakistani Girls Forced to Settle Men's Disputes, Khaleej Times, Fri 16 April 2004 (Alternatives.ca). Retrieved 10 October 2006. 149. ^ Warlords and women in uneasy mix, Andrew North, BBC News, 14 November 2005. Retrieved 10 October 2006. 150. ^ Abbas, Zaffar (11 May 2005). "Pakistan's first women fighter pilots". BBC News. Retrieved 10 October 2006. 151. ^ http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xeoopc_najiba-faiz-in-light-pink_lifestyle Najiba Faiz] 152. ^ About AWN, Afghan Women's Network. Retrieved 10 October 2006. 153. ^ Aurat Publication and Information Service Foundation, Aurat Foundation, Fri 16 January 2006. Retrieved 10 October 2006.

[edit] Further reading

Ahmad, Aisha and Boase, Roger. 2003. "Pashtun Tales from the Pakistan-Afghan Frontier: From the Pakistan-Afghan Frontier." Saqi Books (1 March 2003). ISBN 086356-438-0. Ahmed, Akbar S. 1976. "Millennium and Charisma among Pathans: A Critical Essay in Social Anthropology." London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Ahmed, Akbar S. 1980. "Pukhtun economy and society." London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Banuazizi, Ali and Myron Weiner (eds.). 1994. "The Politics of Social Transformation in Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan (Contemporary Issues in the Middle East)." Syracuse University Press. ISBN 0-8156-2608-8. Banuazizi, Ali and Myron Weiner (eds.). 1988. "The State, Religion, and Ethnic Politics: Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan (Contemporary Issues in the Middle East)." Syracuse University Press. ISBN 0-8156-2448-4. Caroe, Olaf. 1984. The Pathans: 500 B.C.-A.D. 1957 (Oxford in Asia Historical Reprints)." Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-577221-0. Dani, Ahmad Hasan. 1985. "Peshawar: Historic city of the Frontier." Sang-e-Meel Publications (1995). ISBN 969-35-0554-9. Docherty, Paddy. The Khyber Pass: A History of Empire and Invasion: A History of Invasion and Empire. 2007. Publisher: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0571219772. [1]

Dupree, Louis. 1997. "Afghanistan." Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-577634-8. Elphinstone, Mountstuart. 1815. "An account of the Kingdom of Caubul and its dependencies in Persia, Tartary, and India: comprising a view of the Afghaun nation." Akadem. Druck- u. Verlagsanst (1969). online version. Habibi, Abdul Hai. 2003. "Afghanistan: An Abridged History." Fenestra Books. ISBN 158736-169-8. Hopkirk, Peter. 1984. "The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia." Kodansha Globe; Reprint edition. ISBN 1-56836-022-3. Vogelsang, Willem. 2002. "The Afghans." Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 0631198415, 9780631198413 Wardak, Ali "Jirga A Traditional Mechanism of Conflict Resolution in Afghanistan", 2003, online at UNPAN (the United Nations Online Network in Public Administration and Finance).

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pashtuns

Is One of the Lost Tribes the Taliban? (April 2007) Taliban may have origin in ancient tribe of Israel (October 2001) [hide]v d ePashtuns

Amir Kror Suri Ibrahim Lodi Sher Shah Suri Khushal Khan Khattak Rahman Baba Ghiasuddin Ghori Shahabuddin Ghori Ala'uddin Ghilzai Bahlul Khan Lodi Nazo Tokhi Mirwais Hotak Ashraf Hotaki Mahmud Hotaki Mahmud Hotaki Ahmad Shah Durrani Timur Shah Key figures Durrani Zaman Shah Durrani Azad Shah Afghan Jamaluddin Afghan Akbar Khan Malalai of Maiwand Ayub Khan Abdur Rahman Khan Mullah Powindah Faqir of Ipi Amanullah Khan Nadir Shah Bacha Khan Zahir Shah Daoud Khan Abdul Ahad Mohmand Samad Khan Nur Muhammad Taraki Hafizullah Amin Wali Khan Culture Pashtunwali Pashtun tribes Pashtun dress Loya jirga Attan Khattak Dance Mahsud Dance Adam Khan and Durkhanai Yusuf Khan and Sherbano Amir Kror Suri Pir Roshan Rahman Baba Khushal Khan Khattak Nazo Tokhi Abdul Hamid Baba Hussain Hotaki Ahmad Shah Durrani Hamza Baba Malang Jan Ajmal Khattak Kabir Stori Ghani Khan

Poets

Topics and Durand Line Khudai Khidmatgar Pashtunistan Kalabagh Dam controversies Taliban Names of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Battles and conflicts First Battle of Panipat Battle of Gulnabad Third Battle of Panipat First Anglo-Afghan War Battle of Nowshera Battle of Jamrud (1837) Siege of Malakand Second Anglo-Afghan War Battle of Maiwand Tirah

Campaign Third Anglo-Afghan War Soviet war in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan (2001present) War in North-West Pakistan

The Israeli Source of the Pathan Tribes

From the book, Lost Tribes from Assyria, by A Avihail and A Brin, 1978, in Hebrew by Issachar Katzir
As children, we heard from our parents, who come from Afghanistan, stories about the Ten Tribes who were lost during the destruction of the Temple, about meetings with the country people with whom they had contact in trade matters, about Jewish customs and names and it all sounded inconceivable and fascinating. Like all children, we enjoyed hearing about tribes of Israel preserving their forefathers tradition, bearing arms and awaiting the day of redemption. From Mr Yisrael Mishal, who lived in Afulah and was formerly President of the Afghanistan Jewish community, I often heard unusually fascinating quotations and stories uttered repeatedly and Mr Mishal gave live examples of his meetings with Pathans who dwell on the AfghanistanPakistan border. Who are the Pathans? They are also called Afghans or Pishtus after their language. They identify themselves with their former name sons of Israel, even though nowadays they live as Muslims. In Afghanistan they are said to number six to seven million, and in Pakistan seven to eight million. Two million of them live as beduins. Outwardly, the Pathans are similar to the Jews. From their ancient customs, one can point to a connection between the Pathans and the Jewish people. They make up about half of the population of Afghanistan, in the region called Pushtunistan, on the eastern border of Afghanistan. Over ninety per cent of the inhabitants are Sunni Muslims. Later modernisation has penetrated into this State, and even less in the hilly areas near the border. In these places, the Pathans continue to live in the tribal framework as their fathers and forefathers did. The legal system operates according to the Pashtunwali," the Pashtun Laws, parts of which are similar to the laws of the Torah. The Pathans are known for their physical strength. They are tall, light-coloured and handsome, good soldiers and for the most part bear arms from a young age. They are diligent and intelligent, faithful to an exemplary degree and are known in the world as outstanding hosts.
What is the Ethnic Origin of the Panthim?

The Panthim are not similar in their outward appearance or in their character to any of the ethnic groups which populate this environment: the Indian group-Iranians, Mongolians, Turks or Persians. Most of the researchers are of the opinion that the origin of the Pathans is indeed Israeli. The aliyah to Israel of Afghanistan Jews and the volume of evidence heard from them on this subject about the customs of the Pathans corroborate this idea.

Relationship to the Tribes of Israel

There is interesting evidence about the preservation among the tribes of family trees on their origin, and on their relationship to the fathers of the Israeli people. These family trees are well preserved. Some of them are penned in golden lettering on deerskin. The names of the tribes speak for themselves: the tribe of Harabni (in the Afghan tongue) is the tribe of Reuben, the shinwari is Shimeon, the Levani Levi, Daftani Naftali, Jaji Gad, Ashuri Asher, Yusuf Su, sons of Josef, Afridi Ephraim, and so on. The former monarchy in Afghanistan has a widely-spread tradition according to which their origin was from the tribe of Benjamin and the family of King Saul. According to this tradition, Saul had a son called Jeremia and he in turn had a son called Afghana. Jeremia died at about the same time as Saul and the son Afghana was raised by King David and remained in the royal palace during the reign of Solomon too. About 400 years later, in the days of Nebuchadnezer, the Afghana family fled to the Gur region (Jat in our times). This is in central Afghanistan and here the family settled down and traded with the people of the area. In the year 622, with the appearance of Islam, Muhammed sent Khaled ibn Waleed to the sons of Ishrail to spread the word of Islam among the Afghanistan tribes. He succeeded in his mission, returned to Muhammed with seven representatives of the residents of Afghanistan and with 76 supporters. The leader of these people was Kish (the name of the father of Solomon). According to the tradition, the emissaries succeeded in their assignment and Muhammed praised them for this.
The Place of the Assyrian Exile

According to the Bible (the second Book of Kings, Chronicles 1 and 2), the ten tribes were exiled to Halah and Havor and the river Gozan and to the cities of Maday. According to the tradition of the Jews of Afghanistan, the river gozan is rod jichan (river in Persian is rod), one of the tributaries of the Emo-daria, which descends in the vicinity of the town of Maimane. The city of Havor is, they say, peh-Shauor (Pash-Havor) which means Over Havor in Afghanistan, and today serves as the centre of the Pathans on the Pakistan that the whole area populated the ancient Assyrian Exile. There are researchers who claim that all the Jews living in southern U.S.S.R. along the Emor-daria are the descendants of the ten tribes - the Bucharins, Georgians, etc. As we know, a group of Bnei Yisrael some of whom settled in Israel, is also found in India and Afghanistan. The existence of the Pathan tribes is therefore in the heart of the area in which the ten tribes are found.
The Similarity of the Pathans to the Jews

The British, who ruled Afghanistan for a long time, found it difficult to distinguish between the Pathans and the Jews, and called the Pathans Juz - Jews. The Jews, too found it hard to distinguish between themselves and the Pathans when the latter are not wearing traditional dress. Afghanistan has about 21 peoples and languages and only the Pathans, apart from the Jews, look clearly Semitic; their countenance is lighter than that of other peoples and their nose is long. Some of them also have blue eyes. Since most of them grow beards and sidelocks like Jews, this also adds difficulty to an attempt to distinguish between them and the Jews.

Jewish Customs

Even though the Pathans accepted Islam voluntarily and forcibly, they maintain Jewish customs preserved from the recesses of their past. The book contains considerable evidence taken from Jews of Afghanistan who lived in the neighbourhoods of the Pathans and had contact with them. The evidence doesnt relate to all the Pathans or to all the tribes and places. However, it does prove the existence of Jewish customs among the Pathans. The research on this subject still requires completion, both quantitative and qualitative. Let us note the customs in headline form only: sidelock, circumcision within eight days, a Talith (prayer shawl) and four fringes (Tsitsit), a Jewish wedding (Hupah and ring), womens customs (immersion in a river or spring), levirate marriage (Yibum), honouring the father, forbidden foods (horse and camel food), refraining from cooking meat and milk, a tradition of clean and unclean poultry, the Shabbat (preparation of 12 Hallah loaves, refraining from work), lighting a candle in honour of the Shabbat, the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) prayer (some of them pray turned in the direction of Jerusalem), blood on the threshold and on the two Mezzuzot (in times of plague or trouble), a scapegoat, curing the ill with the help of the Book of Psalms (placing the Book under the patients head), a Hebrew amulet (Kamia), Hebrew names (also. for neighbourhoods and villages), Holy Books (they especially honour the Law of Sharif which is the Law of Moses), and rising when the name of Moshe is mentioned. As for the Pathan law, they have laws similar to the Jewish law. The Magen David symbol is found in almost every Pathan house on an island in the Pehshauor district. The rich make it of expensive metals, the poor from simple wood. The Magen David can be seen on the towers of schools and on tools and ornaments.
Archaeological and Other Evidence

Apart from synagogues, Sifrei Torah, Hebrew placenames and tribal family trees, there also exists evidence on important archeological finds: near the town of Herat in Tchcharan, old graves were found on which the writing was in Persian and in the Hebrew language. The graves date from the 11th to the 13th centuries. In an opposite fashion, so it seems, there are a number of inscriptions engraved on rocks in ancient Hebrew script near the town of Netchaset. In the Dar el amman museum in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, there is a black stone found in Kandahar, on which is written in Hebrew. It would be appropriate to end this article with one of the pieces of evidence. Mr Chiya Zorov of Tel Aviv notes: When the Bolsheviks rose to power in Russia, they divided the large area of the southern part of central Russia into smaller districts such as Tanjekistan, Turkemanistan, Kazchastan, etc. In Tanjekistan, which is in northern Afghanistan, there was a village by the name of Dushme. When Stalin gained power, he called the village in his name, Stalinabad. It started to develop and grow and many Jews then began to stream into Tangekistan. They found that the Tanyakis light candles on Friday evening. When the Jews went to visit them, they revealed that they eat a dish made of meat stuffed with rice called Pacha, which is characteristic of the Bucharian Jews and is eaten on Friday night. When they asked them what it was, the

Tajiks replied that this is an ancient traditional food of theirs and its name is Pacha. They also said that they have a tradition that they were once Jews. Rabbi Saadia Gaon discussed at length with the Hacham Hivay Habalchi and in the opinion of the speaker, in that period (10th century) the Jews were inclined to assimilate into Islam and it was about this that they were arguing. The scholar Ibn Sina, born in Buchara, also lived at the time. The teacher Tajiki said that he, too, belongs to the Jews who were forced to convert, assimilated into Islam and are called Tchale. As recounted, the meaning of his name is Even Sina son of sinal (and up to this day in many languages, and also in Hebrew, the words are similarly pronounced Sinai, Sin Sina) and perhaps this is why he called himself Ben Sinai, in other words, son of the Torah which came forth from Sinai. The Maharaja of Mardan was a scholar who completed his studies at the University of London and would often visit the converts of Mishhad who lived in Pehshaurf. He also visited a Jew called Carmeli, who told Mr Hiya Zorov that the Maharaja always said the day would come when they would learn to distinguish the origins of all people and then they would know that all the peoples in the vicinity of Afghanistan were once Jews. The Maharaja published a book in English and wrote of this in the introduction to the book. But the book was lost. There was a time when the author Hiya Zorov, with late President Ben-Tsvi, who considered it of great importance, tried to find the book, but in vain. Some of the Bucharian Jews have a tradition that they are among the people of the First Temple possibly from the Ten Tribes, but he doesnt know about this and afterwards they were joined by Jews from the Second Temple Exile. Scribe: Pakistani Cricketer Imran Khan who married Jemima Goldsmith is a Pathan.

The Afghan Muslims of Guyana and Suriname

by Raymond Chickrie Copyright March 2003
rchickrie@hotmail.com Updated March 2003

Introduction Guyana and Suriname are located on the northeast coast of South America, and are two of the three non-Hispanic enclaves that make up the Guianas. Suriname is also one of the most ethnically and culturally mixed countries in the world. In Paramaribo, the capital of this Dutch speaking nation of about 450,000 people architecture graphically reflects this synthesis of peoples. A beautiful Mughal style mosque shares the same street with an imposing nineteenth-century wooden synagogue, several Hindu temples and the Roman Catholic cathedral can be found in the capital as well. Suriname like Guyana are colourful mixtures of African and Asian influences.

Guyana and Suriname's rich cultural mosaic is the legacy of the Dutch and British plantation economy, which after the abolition of slavery brought many indentured workers from British India, Indonesia, and China (see Figure 1). They joined the descendants of African slaves, a large Jewish community, a European and Middle Eastern business and professional lite and the remnants of the indigenous Arawak and Carib peoples. Dutch, Hindustani, Hakka, Mandarin, and Javanese are also spoken in Suriname. Islam, Hinduism and Christianity are part of the cultural mosaic. In Guyana English is the medium of exchange. Hindi and Urdu are used only for religious purposes by Hindus and Muslims (see Figure 2). In both countries the majority of the Asian immigrants settled in the fertile farming area near the coast, while the African-descended Creoles tended to move into the cities. Some Surinamese who were former slaves from West Africa escaped the Dutch sugar plantations into the jungle. These runway slaves are called boschnegers. FIGURE 1. Ethnic Distribution Source: CIA Factbook The Political Scene Both Suriname and Guyana experienced political turmoil after independence from Holland and England. Guyana had an Afro dominated dictatorship, which marginalized East Indians while in Suriname several coups rocked that country's peaceful history. Remarkably, this cosmopolitan mixture held together under Dutch rule, but as independence approached, ethnically based political parties took shape, rallying supporters on racial lines. In Guyana racial tensions have spilled over into ethnic violence several times, but in Suriname consoctional democracy has worked. The Dutch pulled out in 1975, promising continued aid, but many Surinamese who were fearful of what happened in neighbouring Guyana to East Indians, decided to accept the offer of Dutch citizenship. Some 40,000 migrated to Holland in the months preceding independence. Today over 400,000 Surinamese live in Holland. In Guyana over half of its population migrated to the United States, Canada, England, Suriname and Trinidad. The dictatorship in Guyana ended in 1992 after the United States decided to support the democratic movement. With the end of the Cold War, the United States was no longer afraid of the opposition People's Progressive Party as the leadership of the PPP was accused of being communist sympathizers. Their fears were in part justified, for Guyana and Suriname underwent a series of political and economic traumas in the 1980s. A coup in 1980 brought Colonel Desi Bouterse to power, and when 15 opposition leaders were executed in 1982, the Netherlands imposed sanctions. Then, from 1986, a guerrilla war broke out between boschnegers and the Paramaribo-based military regime. Civilian rule was only solidly re-established in 1991, and since then the country's fractious ethnic parties have formed more or less unstable coalition governments. The former dictator Bouterse, who has remained an influential presence, was indicted for cocaine smuggling by a Dutch court in 1997; the Surinamese Government refused to extradite him but in 1999 he was sentenced in absentia to 16 years. Guyana and Suriname remain dependent on a handful of commodities: bauxite, sugar, timber, rice and bananas. Suriname continues to rely on Dutch financial support, which is decreasing and ever more conditional on democratic reforms. About half the population is estimated to live in poverty, and remittance payments from relatives in the Netherlands keep many families alive. This material poverty, deepening over the last decade, contrasts ironically with the country's extraordinary wealth of cultural diversity. Guyana on the other hand, has been experiencing positive economic growth since the liberalization of the economy in the 1990's. Violence continues to plague Guyana in which people of South Asian decent are mostly the victims. The police have also become victim of armed gangs.

Suriname however, has remained relatively safe and stable.

Source: World Site Atlas, available online at: http://www.sitesatlas.com/Maps/Maps/403.htm Muslims in Guyana And Suriname In Suriname, there are a large number of Muslims, and they constitute 20 percent of the total population of 425,000 of the country. Three distinct Muslim communities live in Surinam. The Javanese from the Indonesian Archipelago have been living in the country for more than 50 years. Indo-Pakistanis came as indentured labour over 100 years ago. Besides, there is a growing Afro-Surinamese community here.1 In Guyana the Muslim community is close to twelve percent, and is made up primarily of South Asians and a growing Afro minority. In both countries the South Asians are Sunni Muslims of the Hanafi School (Mazhab) of fiqh. The Africans were the first Muslims in this region. Today with the diligent efforts of scholars and researchers, the role of Muslims as an indigenous people in this part of the world is receiving serious attention. Thanks to the efforts of scholars such as Shaykh Abdullah Hakim Quick of Toronto, Dr. Sulayman Nyang of Howard University, Adib Rashad of Washington, DC, and Abdullah Bilal Omowale of Trinidad, the history of the African Muslims of the Western Hemisphere is now coming to light.2 One source points out that

Until recent years, the presence of Muslims in the Western Hemisphere during the preColumbian and antebellum periods was known only to the most disciplined of researchers and historians. Intellectual dishonesty and lethargy and Euro-centric conceptions of history were the primary culprits behind this conspiracy of silence that virtually erased Islam from the pages of Western formative history. The impact of Islam on the lands of the Caribbean may have begun with West African Mandinka seafarers and adventurers landing on the tropical isles well over a century before Columbus "accidentally discovered" the New World islands. The Islamic practices of the "black" Carib Indians and the appearance of Indian women with face veils chronicled in the diaries of Columbus scream loudly that the Moors (read Muslims), so dreaded by the Spanish, had left an indelible mark before the Christianization of the West.3 The trans-Atlantic slave trade brought millions of Muslims into the Caribbean, and some came to Suriname. "The "Bush Negros" in Surinam, led by Arabi and Zam-Zam, defeated the Dutch on many occasions and were finally given a treaty and their own territory (near French Guyana) which they control until today".4 Apart from Muslims of South Asian descent, Muslims from Java brought by the Dutch settled in Suriname. Suriname is isolated from the Caribbean because of its geography and colonial legacy. The Javanese are an integral part of Surinamese society. All ethnic groups in Suriname have maintained their space. There is also a handful of immigrants from the Middle East settled mainly from Syria, Lebanon and Palestine in Suriname. Islam was reintroduced to Suriname in 1873 when the ship Lalla Rookh arrived with 37 Hindustani Muslims. The 37 were from Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Mirzapur, Lucknow, Allahbad, Jansi, Jaunpur, Azamgargh, Gaya, Faizabad, Sewree, and Benares (Varanasi) in India. From 1873 to 1916 Muslims from the Indian provinces of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, the Northwest Frontier and Bihar continued arriving in Suriname. These mainly Urdu speaking Muslims were from the Sunni Hanafi Mazhab, and they celebrated the Eids as well as Muhurram and Milad-un-Nabi. The strong influence of the Shia' and the Sufis of North India could be felt in Suriname. Urdu is the functional language of the Hindustani Muslims of Suriname to this day and the community has resisted "arabization." The Amadhiyya movement has penetrated Suriname's Muslim community. They have built some of the finest mosques reflecting Mughal architecture. On the other hand, the Sunnis have built one of the largest mosques in the region using a combination of arabesque and Mughal architecture. They also support one of the finest Islamic learning centres in the region for children and future Imams. FIGURE 2. Religious Distribution Source: CIA Factbook The Javanese Muslims from Indonesia began arriving in Suriname in the 1890's. The Surinam-Javanese community are kejawen, following the syncretic practices and beliefs of Java.5 In this community the keblat (qibla) expresses a unique diasporic experience and identity. From the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) villagers were recruited from Java as contract workers for the plantations in another Dutch colonial land, Surinam. Most of them were kejawen Muslims. Kejawen Islam, which was dominant in Javanese villages, is a syncretic Islam that incorporated old Javanese beliefs, including Hindu-Buddhist elements.6 The Afghan Muslims

Little is known about the Afghan Muslims of Guyana and Suriname, in fact, some maybe amazed to learn that Afghans made their way to Guyana and Suriname among the Indian Muslims from 1838- 1916. When Indian indentured labourers began arriving in Guyana and Suriname from 1838, India was already conquered and assimilated by Persians, Central Asian Turks, Arabs, Afghans, Greeks, Hazaris, Baluchis, among other Muslim clans who settled in India's large cities. The dominant minority, the Muslims settled in large cities such as Ahmadabad, Allahabad, Delhi, Karachi, Lahore, Bihar, Ghazipur, Lucknow, and Hyderabad. These exotic people found great economic opportunities in India and they were encouraged to migrate to the Metropolis by the Mughal Emperors. In India in 1857 many Afghan Pathans, rose up against the British and many were executed, jailed or sent overseas. Many of these "trouble makers" were sent to Guyana and Suriname. There was always strong Afghan presence in Bareilly, Muradabad and Badayun. These districts had strong Afghan Townships where over 9,000 Afghans settled. It was with the immigration of Daud Khan, an Afghan slave (who originally hails from Roh in Afghanistan) in the region that the Afghan Rohillas had come into prominence. His adopted son Ali Muhammad Khan succeeded in carving out an estate for himself in the district with his headquarter at Aonla. He was ultimately made the lawful governor of Kateher by the Mughal emperor, and the region was henceforth called "the land of the Ruhelas." Eventually after the end of the Mughal Empire many Pathans migrated from Rohilkhand. Bareilly as a ruined city became crowded with unemployed, restless Rohilla Pathans. Many urban cities in Uttar Pradesh were experiencing economic stagnation and poverty. Naturally, this led to heavy migration overseas. The slightest weakening of the central authority provoked acts of defiance from the Katehriya Rajputs. Thus the Mughals initiated the policy of allotting lands for Afghan settlements in Katiher.7 Afghan settlements continued to be encouraged throughout the reign of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (1658-1707) and even after his death. These Afghans, known as the Rohilla Afghans, caused the area to be known as Rohilkhand.8 The Mughal policy of encouraging Afghan settlements for keeping the Katehriyas in check worked only as long as the central government was strong. After Aurangzeb's death, the Afghans, having themselves become local potentates, began to seize and occupy neighbouring villages. Immigration records indicate that the majority of Muslims who migrated to Guyana and Suriname came from the urban centres of Uttar Pradesh: Agra, Ahllahbad, Bahraich, Fyzabad, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Ghazipur, Mirzapur, Lucknow, Muradabad, Bareilly, Rampur, and Sultanpur. Small batches also came from Karachi in Sind, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi in the Punjab, Hyderabad, in the Deccan, Srinagar in Kashmir, and Peshawar and Mardan in the Northwest Frontier (Afghan areas). Immigration certificates reveal major details of Muslim migrants. Their place of origin such as district and village were recorded. Their physical features such as colour, height were recorded as well. Their Immigration Certificate indicated their caste/religion as well. Under caste Muslims are identified as Musulman, Mosulman, Musulman, Musalman, Sheik Musulman, Mahomedaan, Syed, Sheik, Jolaba, Mughal, Pathan, Pattian, and Musulman (Pathan). Religion and caste identified many Muslims. From looking at their district of origin one can tell of their ethnicity, whether they were Sindis, Biharis, Gujarati, Punjabi, Pathans or Kashmiri. The physical profile on the Immigration Certificate also helps in recognizing their ethnicity. There are enormous spelling mistakes on the Immigration Certificates. Musulman, the Urdu word for Muslim is spelled in many different ways and sometimes Muslims were referred to as Mahomedaan. Peshawar is spelled Peshaur and Nowsherra is Nachera, among many others.

Afghan Pathan clan was among the Muslim migrants. Immigration Certificates clearly indicate this under the category of "caste" Pathans, "Musulman Pathan" Pattan or Pattian. The fact that there were Pathan settlements in northern India explains this migration. Immigration Certificates further substantiate this. Pathans migrated from Peshawar, Nowsherra, and Mardan from the Northwest Frontier as well as Kashmir. Some Pathans also came from Dholpur, Rajasthan. From Uttar Pradesh they migrated from Agra, Bareilly, Lucknow, Rohtak, Janhora, Jaunpur, Gonda, Shahjahanpur, Barabanki, and Delhi, among other cities in this provience. The Pathans also migrated from Multan, Rawalpindi and Lahore in the Punjab. Again the spelling of districts, towns and villages varies. With considerable knowledge, the writer was able to recognize these places. A few places still remain an enigma. Here I mean that a few districts and villages are unrecognizable from looking at immigration certificates. History and Culture of the Afghans Pathans were always respected by the Mughals and were heavily patronized by Mughal Emperors in order to pacify them. The Afghans also acted as the buffer zone in the Northwest frontier; they kept invaders out of Mughal India. And in the nineteen and twentieth century they kept the Russians at bay. Without the support of the Pathans the Mughal Empire would not have lasted for as long as it did. The Pathan, or Puktun, are a race of warriors who live primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They consist of about sixty tribes, each with its own territory. Although their origin is unclear, their legends say that they are the descendants of Afghana, grandson of King Saul. However, most scholars believe that they probably arose from ancient Aryans intermingling with subsequent invaders. The people of Afghanistan form a mosaic of ethnic and linguistic groups. Pashto (Pashtu) and Dari, a dialect of Persian (Farsi), are Indo-European languages; they are the official languages of the country. More than half of the population speaks Pashto, the language of the Pashtuns, while about half of the population speaks Dari, the language of the Tajiks, Hazaras, Chahar Aimaks, and Kizilbash peoples and other Indo-European languages, spoken by smaller groups, include Western Dardic (Nuristani or Kafiri), Baluchi, and a number of Indic and Pamiri languages spoken principally in isolated valleys in the northeast. Turkic languages, a subfamily of the Altaic languages, are spoken by the Uzbek and Turkmen peoples, the most recent settlers, who are related to peoples from the steppes of Central Asia. The Turkic languages are closely related; within Afghanistan they include Uzbek, Turkmen, and Kyrgyz, the last spoken by a small group in the extreme northeast. The Afghans who came to Guyana and Suriname were mostly Pathans and a few were Hazaris. The Pathan comes from Afghanistan and the wild west of Pakistan: the Northwest Frontier Province that borders Afghanistan. In his text, Warrior Race, Imran Khan writes, "physically the Pathan has more in common with the people of Central Asia than with those of the subcontinent. The fine, aquiline features, high check-bones and light skin reflect the Pathan's origins in Afghanistan and Turkey".9 Pathans from various areas such as South Waziristan, the Mahsuds and North Waziristan the Waziri differ in complexion, hair and eye colour. Some are taller and fairer while some have green and blue eyes. "Many of the tribal elders dye their grey beards red with henna".10 A practice that some elder Afghans kept in Guyana. Pathans are very competitive and determined; they show no fear. They are honest, dignified, and uncompromising in their promises. Money does not impress a Pathan. "It is the Pathan's sense of honour that

makes him conduct himself with such dignity, and a fiercely independent spirit that makes even the poorest tribesman walk like a king".11 To understand the Afghans, one has to look carefully at their culture in context of their geographical landscape. Why are they so rebellious and difficult to conquer? Originating from Afghanistan, the Pathans are one of the greatest warrior races on earth; they have never been conquered. For centuries the Pathans have "existed by raiding, robbing and kidnapping".12 But one has to understand the physical terrain of the Pathans. "In the mountainous terrain, hardly anything grows, and whatever is produced is insufficient to sustain the population of the area".13 Sometimes it is difficult to sustain the family without raiding and kidnapping from the affluent lowlands to feed the family. "It is not the nature of such a proud race of people to resort to begging".14 Consequently robbing and kidnapping became a means of survival. The Pathans are the majority in Afghanistan. The British in 1893 created the Durand Line separating Afghanistan from India and "slicing right through the Pathan's territory"15 The southern part of Afghanistan is predominantly Pathans. Due to tribal rivalries many Pathan tribes settled along the banks of the Indus, the Waziristan, and the Vale of Swat, Peshawar and between the Sutlej and Beas rivers. "There were Pathan settlements in Northern India in Hoshiarpur, Pathankot, near Lucknow, Rohailkand and many other areas"16 This explains the presence of Afghans among the Indians who went to Guyana as well. Some Pathan tribes are the Yusufzai, Afridi, Niazis, Lodhis, Ghoris, Burkis, Waziri, Mahsud, Marwats and Khattaks. A Common Ancestry Pathans believe that they are all descended from a common ancestor, Qais. He is said to have met the Prophet Muhammad. The Prophet gave Qais the name "Pthun, and Qais was to take Islam back to his home. One of Qais's sons was name Afghana, who had four sons. Every Pathan traces its descent from one of these four sons. The first of these four Pathan branches is the Sarbani; this includes the largest Pathan tribe, the Yusufzai, which settled in Swat, as well as the Tarkalani, Mohmands and Muhammadzai. The second grouping is the Bitani. The Niazis, Ghilzais, Lodhis, Suris, Marwats, Lohanis, and Nuhranis belong to his group. The third branch is the Karlani, which includes some of the wildest tribes, such as the Mahsud, Waziri, Afridi, Orakzai, Dawar and Bangash. The fourth branch I am researching. Code of Honour Pathan is a corrupted version for Pukhtun. This word means "backbone, hospitality, bravery and honour." The culture of the Pathan is based on the latter principles. "Which is enshrined in a code of honour known as Puktunwali, or the way of the Pathans".17 According to Imran Khan, a Pathan is recognized by other Pathans not so much by racial characteristics as by his adherence to "Pukhtunwali." If he does not follow the code, he is not a Pathan. The wilder tribes adhere to the code more strictly. Pushtunwali is followed religiously, and it includes the following practices: melmastia (hospitality and protection to every guest); nanawati (the right of a fugitive to seek refuge, and acceptance of his bona fide offer of peace); badal (the right of blood feuds or revenge); tureh (bravery); sabat (steadfastness); imamdari (righteousness); 'isteqamat (persistence); ghayrat (defense of property and honour); and mamus (defence of one's women).

Pukhtunwali is closely linked to the spirit of Islamic justice and rejection of unfairness. It is not a coincidence that Pathans rose up against British injustice on the Sugar Plantations of Guyana. Khan writes, "The criterion by which a man is judged is not the amount of money he has but how honourable he and his family are".18 A Pathan will go at length to maintain his honour. "Any slight to his honour has to be avenged - there is no question of turning the other check".19 Revenge is taken only on male members of a family. Religious Zeal The majority of Pathans are Sunni Muslim. Islam came to them as a great liberating and unifying force. For this reason, their underlying faith and steadfast devotion to Islam is very strong. Pathans are staunch believers and would go at length to defend Islam. They practice Islam according to the Qur'an without deviation. No wonder why we see the Afghan play a prominent role in the history of Guyana and Suriname. The building of the Queenstown Masjid was initiated by the Afghans in Guyana, while a leading Afghan immigrant, Munshi Rehman Khan, nurtured his community. Afghans and the Queenstown Masjid An Afghan with a typical Afghan name, Gool (Gul) Mohammad Khan, who was an indentured labourer, took the initiative to build the Queenstown Jama Masjid. "The first Imaam of the Masjid was reported to have been Gool Mohammad Khan". Gool Mohammad Khan after serving his indenturedship returned to India. It is also reported that another Muslim bearing the name Jilani was the first Imaam. "The Jamaat comprised Muslims from India and Afghanistan; the latter apparently arrived in this country via India"20 Gool Mohammad Khan persuaded another Afghan, Goolam-uddin to purchase the plot of land for the building of a Masjid. Mr. Goolam-uddin lived on the property of the Masjid and was the caretaker of the property. This Afghan was reputed to have a "dominant personality and kept a full beard coloured reddish brown with henna".21 Like most Afghans, Goolamuddin also had a stern and "forceful nature". Thus, disputes rose among the Afghan and Indian Muslims and "eventually around 1923-1924 the Indian members decided to leave the MasjidY"22 However, the Afghan control of the Masjid lasted for only a few years because of their small number and remigration to India. Food and Clothing The Pathans are meat lovers. Many were meat handlers in Guyana and some owned businesses in Georgetown. There was always a mince mill in the home of the Pathans to grind meat to make kebabs. They substituted the tandoor over for the local fireside in Guyana to cook their kebabs. The famous firni (rice pudding) for dessert was served on all auspicious occasions. Some Muslims call it Sirni and cooked it differently from the Pathans. The diet of the Pathan Afghan Guyanese was quite different from that of the Indian Muslims but eventually the authentic cuisine of the Afghans died as the few remaining Afghans interbred with non Afghan Muslims. Never could I forget Begum Bibi Hannifa Khan Hussein from my town. She had strong Afghan roots. Her family's physical features, culture and diet stood out amongst their Muslim brethren in the community. She always had an entourage of people cooking at her home. Lavish meat dishes and Afghan bread was prepared. Meat was always ground for kofta kebab. During her lifetime she hardly set foot on the grounds of the plantation that her husband Ishaq Hussein managed for Amin and Ahmad Sankar. From a distance she gave orders to the men with her resounding voice, while maintaining the tradition of purdah.

The clothing of the Afghan Guyanese Muslims was quite different than that of the Muslim Indian. While the Muslim Indian men wore the Indian Shirt and Pajama, the Afghan wore the baggy Shalwar (pants) and Kameez (shirt). The Afghan prefers lose baggy wear; both males and females wore baggy modest clothing. Indian Muslims wore brighter colour clothing, while Afghan Muslims wore subtle colours. Pathans also wore the pagri or the head wrap. The fact that scholars have not explored deeply the history of Muslims in Suriname and Guyana, not much is known about this subject and much less about the Afghans Muslims. While we know that Afghan Pathans speak Pashto, there is no evidence of Pashto or Persian written literature in neither Guyana nor Suriname. But there can be no doubt that Pashto was spoken by some of these Pathans especially those who migrated directly from the NWFP. And who knows, such literature may still exist today among local Afghan families. Afghan Resistance The Story of Mazar Khan Mazar Khan arrived in British Guiana in 1883 to work as an indentured labourer. He was sent to plantation Caledonian on the Essequibo Coast. His family was nostalgic for the past and in 1998 journeyed to Northern India to retrace his roots. This expedition took them to the village of Somdutt in Meerut. This information was of course taken from his Immigration Certificate. After consultation at a mosque in Somdutt, they were taken to meet the oldest person in the village. With translation and the help of a few members of the mosque the "old man" was reached. With the greatest amazement they learnt that this old man, Hurma Khan who in 1998 was 110 years old is the son of Chand Khan who was the brother of Sujati Hassan Khan father of Mazar Khan. In other words, Hurma Khan is the first cousin of Mazar Khan. 23 It was then learnt that Mazahar Khan was a "freedom fighter" during the 1880's mutiny against the British. Meerut holds a special place in Indian history as the place where the mutiny started. In an attempt to retaliate, the British rounded up the "trouble makers" and sent them to "kalla-paanie", black waters.24 The Khans have been known in history for their tenacity to resist tyranny and to fight for izzat, jaan or maal (honour, life and property) and wherever they went they upheld these values not only for themselves but also for all. While in the Guyanas, they advocated for Indians, Hindus, Pathans or Muslims. Mazahar Khan's resistance had led to his exile from India. Making History: Munshi Rahman M. Khan At age 24, Rehman M. Khan (1874-1972), a young Pathan arrived in Suriname in 1898 on the steamship Avon. In his autobiography he discusses his Pathan roots. He came from Hammirpur, a district in Uttar Pradesh, under strange circumstances. He was an educated Pathan Muslim and found employment as a munshi (teacher) in a government middle school at Maudha, a tehsil headquarters (revenue sub-division) of the Hamirpur district. "But after six months of teachership he somehow or other got fed-up and gave it up".25 After a long contemplation of three months at the depot in Calcutta he sailed for Suriname arriving there on 13 April 1898. In Suriname he was assigned to Plantation Alliance and became known as Munshi (teacher) Rehman M. Khan. This young Khan knew the Qur'an as well as the Ramayana very well. He soon became popular in his plantation and among the surrounding Indians of the other plantations as a

Ramayan specialist. He started propagating the Ramayana ideology and taught Hindi to the children of the Indian community. He was also attached as an interpreter and Sardar (head of the labour force) in a plantation. He wrote many books but only two of his small books were published in India in the 1950s." According to the interpreter of some of his literary works, Mohan K. Gautham, there are many manuscripts available which he wrote in Suriname dealing with the Muslim problems in Suriname, the language issues and his own biography in four volumes. Coming from a middle class Pathan family, Khan was very educated. His knowledge of Urdu and Hindi helped his literary prose. He was also a poet and could compose poetry in standard Hindi "with a flavour of Braj".26 Rehman Khan trained Muslims and Hindu priests as well as interpreters. At the end of his five-year contract, he left Plantation Alliance and moved to Dijkveld near the city of Paramaribo along the Suriname River. He used his knowledge to educate the Hindu and Muslim community and to reconstruct the "Indian identity". Khan kept in touch with India constantly and was also craving for news from his homeland. He continued his correspondence with family and friends in India and remitted money to his parents. He was always eager to know the latest situation in India and for this purpose he not only kept correspondence with friends, but also with many publishing concerns, such as the Venkateshwar press in Bombay. From his autobiography we see how attached he was to Suriname since he decided to remain in the colony after he was a free man. He bought a piece of land, sold vegetables and dairy products. Khan got married and had children. He was rewarded for all his efforts and finally the Queen of the Netherlands honoured him with the highest Order for his literary and social activities. 27 From his autobiography, one gets the story of his life and how he went to Suriname. He narrates how he was recruited for Suriname. Khan went to the parade grounds of Kanpur and was met by two men who were finely dressed. "Thinking them to be sympathetic gentlemen, I greeted them. Because they were wearing clean and fine dresses, they were looking nice".28 After discovering that Khan was educated, they offered him a job with a great salary that he could not resist. He was offered a job as a "saradara" (headman) with a salary of "12 annas". A job as a supervisor making a lot of money was an offer that he could not resist.29 Khan was informed about the nature of his job that is to supervise labourers on a sugar plantation. "There you will have to supervise the labourers and you will have to travel on the government's boat on the expenses of the government".30 He was told that the plantation was in Sriram Tapu (Suriname) and that the ship from Calcutta takes three months to reach there. Quickly, the men convinced him to get registered in the government office. The fact that this was going to be a government job and that he was going to register with the government further convinced Khan. He was brought to the Calcutta Depot where he saw the labourers he would supervise. The young Pathan was also promised other perks like free food and expenses. "You will not have any sort of problem. Enjoy your drink and food happily, live comfortably and carry on the government work honestly, this is the only way of getting your own promotion".31 Khan was now convinced. "Hearing such tempting words I became very happy. I just forgot my own self, got separated from my own family and fell into the trap of my luck".32 He lived in the Depot and thought of changing his mind several times, and at one point he felt like a "trapped bird". Little did he know that he could have said "no to the Magistrate". But that was not meant to be "Because the Great Allah had removed my subsistence from India and transported it into Suriname. And he had banished me forever from Hindustan. It was sad and very sad".33

Khan kept close contact with friends and family in India. He was the only son of his parents and they nagged him constantly to return to India. A letter he received from his family on January 1, 1908 begged him to return to India. His parents were very ill and his mother had become very old and blind. They wrote to him "The money, which you want to send to us, it is the opinion of all people here that with the same money please come for one time (to India) and meet us. Everyone wants to see you".34 But Suriname was now home and he had to nurture the Indian community there. He was a very pious Muslim like the Pathans and at the same time reached out to the entire community. He was a Muslim at home but also a staunch Indian, proud of his Indian background and the Indian community. According to Gautam, Hindus and Muslims to him were linked by one motherland, Hindustan. Gautam quotes Khan "Dui jati bharata se aye, Hindu Musalmana Kahalaye, Rahi priti donom maim bhari, jaise dui bandhu eka mehatari" (Two communities came from India, They were called as Hindus and Muslims; Between them existed an intense love, As they were two brothers from the same mother).35 The Rose Hall Uprising The Rose Hall sugar worker strike of 1913 saw Afghans and Muslims resistant to indenturedship. This is nothing new, the Pathans have resisted the British in India and some were sent to the Guyana and Suriname, where they continued the resistance. Some Muslims who challenged the British bore the last name Khan, a typical Pathan (Afghan) name. Moula Bux, Jahangir Khan and Dildar Khan fit the profile of the Pathan. Three other Muslims were also involved Chotey Khan, Aladi, and Amirbaksh. According to Mangru in his text, Indenture and Abolition, "Moula Bux was nicknamed 'munshiji' (scribe or writer) was formerly an office worker in a jute factory in India".36 Dildar Khan according to Mangru was recruited in Kanpur, India. It would seem from the tenacity of these Khans who were involved in the Rose Hall uprising that they fit the profile of the firebrand Pathans. Pathans never let tyranny to go unpunished. It is part of their "code of honour" to root out injustice and defend the weak from exploitation. And this is exactly what the Pathans did in Guyana. Not all Khans are Pathans Today a well-known Indian Muslim community is of Pathan heritage. The Pathans arrived in India from Afghanistan. They normally have their surname as Khan. Regardless of how far the Pathans travel "Puktunwali" is kept. The Pathans in India still have an image of being brave, honest and righteous. Many Indians who adopted Islam adopted the surname Khan and they claim that they are Pathans, which is not always true, but a considerable amount of them live in northern India. Guyanese are very familiar with some Indian celebrities of Pathan nomenclature: Feroz Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Amjad Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Aamir Khan, and Salman Khan, among many others, and not all of them are Pathans. Like some of the Khans of India, not all the Khans of Guyana are Pathans. Many later converts to Islam adopted this noble title as their surname. The true Khans of the Pathan race are obvious because of their physical traits and phenotype. In trying to research this subject, a number of Guyanese Muslims have discussed with the author their Pathan heritage. Their recollections are vague but not farfetched. However, there are Pathans not bearing the last name Khan who made it to the shores of Guyana and Suriname as well. One family traced their great grandfather to the Pakistan/Afghan border. In fact, this family still had artifacts and clothing belonging to their great grandfather, and by using his Pathan Shalwar Kameez, they were able to trace the village from where he migrated. Many others

with Pathan features spoke of their Pathan heritage but had limited facts to enrich their history. This has frustrated many of them who yearn to hold on to this heritage. Conclusion The Pathans have played an important role in the history of their region and in the countries of their adoption. From their community came Muslim rulers, administrators, and soldiers. While many of them have moved out of the highlands in search of an easier life in the plains and across oceans, their mountainous homeland continues to be their citadel of strength and freedom. Many races came to Hindustan and settled. The Afghan Pathan clan quickly became Indian and assimilated. With the coming of the British to India and the need for labourers in British and Dutch Colonies, many Pathans opted for better lives or to seek fast cash in the former colonies of British and Dutch Guiana in South America. These Pathans have introduced their indomitable spirit into these lands. The story of Mazahar Khan, Rehman Mohammad Khan and the leaders of the Rose Hall uprising in Guyana are just a few examples of Pathan bravery and commitment to justice, honesty and integrity of the community that they live in. The building of the Queenstown Jama Masjid in Guyana and Munshi Rehman M. Khan's role in the preservation of Islam among this native Hindustanis again illustrates the religious zeal of the Pathans. From Afghanistan they came to India, and from India they graced the landscape of Guyana and Suriname with "Pushtunwali" B the way of the Pathans. NOTES
1. 'Muslim Situation in the Caribbean,' The Muslim World League Journal, available online at: [http://www.islamweb.net] 2. Muslims in America & the Caribbean - years before Columbus, available online at: [http://www.shef.ac.uk/~ics/whatis/articles/carib.htm] 3. Ibid. 4. Ibid. 5. Moch. Nur Ichwan, 'Prayer in the Surinam-Javanese Diaspora Experience', available online at: [http://isim.leidenuniv.nl/newsletter/3/regional/21.html], July 29, 1999. 6. Ibid. 7. 'The Eleven Illustrations Of Ghulam Yahya Mehr Afshan Farooqi', available online at: [http://www.library.upenn.edu/etext/sasia/persian-mss/crafts1820/introduc.html] 8. Ibid. 9. Imran Khan, Warrior Race: A Journey Through the Land of the Tribal Pathans, New York: Random House, 1993, p. 10. 10. Ibid., p. 11. 11. Ibid., p. 12. 12. Ibid., p. 15. 13. Ibid., p. 15. 14. Ibid., p. 15.

15. Ibid., p. 16. 16. Ibid., p. 17. 17. Ibid., p. 33. 18. Ibid., p. 33. 19. Ibid., p. 33. 20. Centennial Magazine, brochure, Queenstown Jama Masjid, Georgetown: Guyana, 1995, p. 9. 21. Ibid., p. 9. 22. Ibid., p. 9. 23. Search of the Khans, available online at: [http://home.nyc.rr.com/khanmain/myarticles/firstcontact.htm] 24. Ibid. 25. Mohan K. Gautam, "The construction of the Indian image in Surinam: Deconstructing Colonial Derogatory Notions and Reconstructing of the Indian Identity", available online at: [http://www.saxakali.com/indocarib/sojourner7b.htm] 26. Ibid. 27. Ibid. V28. Ibid. 29. Ibid. 30. Ibid. 31. Ibid. 32. Ibid. 33. Ibid. 34. Ibid. 35. Ibid. 36. Basdeo Mangru, Indenture and Abolition, Toronto: Tsar Publications, 1993, p. 86.

APPENDIX I
EXPLANATION OF DATA -- TRANSLATION OF THE IMMIGRATION CERTIFICATE 1. GIVEN NAME 2. GENDER 3. AGE 4. SKIN COLOUR V 5. PHYSICAL HEIGHT

6. DISTINGUISHING FEATURES 7. NATIONALITY 8. DISTRICT OF ORIGIN 9. DISTRICT/POLICE STATION/VILLAGE 10. VILLAGE 11. PROFESSION 12. CASTE/RELIGON 13. CHILDREN 14. SHIP NAME 15. SIGHN UP NUMBER 16. RECUITMENT AGENCY 17. PLACE OF DEPARTURE 18. DATE OF DEPARTURE 19. PLACE OF ARRIVAL 20. DATE OF ARRIVAL 21. RECRUITMENT AGENCY 22. PLACE OF ARRIVAL 23. PLANTER 24. PLANTATION 25. IMMIGRATION REGISTER 26. CONTRACT STARTS 27. CONTRACT ENDS 28-29. RENEWAL OF CONTRACT 30. RESISTANCE ACTIVITIES 31. MEMO FIELD 1. SAMPLE IMMIGRATION CERTIFICATE OF SOME PATHANS Sample # 1 1. Jamin Shaw, Modut Khan Relaties:* van ; van ; van

2-GESLACHT M 3-LEEFTIJD 25 4-HUIDSKLEUR lichtbruin 5-LENGTE 1.756 6-HERKENNINGSTEKEN geen 7-NATIONALITEIT Brits Indie 8-DISTRICT Peshawar 9-POLITIEPOST Moteekundan 10-DORP Shawajgunah 11-BEROEP veld of fabriekarbeid 12-KASTE Mahomedaan 13-KINDGEGEVENS N 14-SCHIPNAAM Engels schip "Clive" 15-MONSTERNUMMER 44 16-WERVINGSINSTANTIE het koloniaal gouvernement 17-AFREISPLAATS Calcutta 18-AFREISDATUM 7/4/1877 19-AANKOMSTPLAATS Paramaribo 20-AANKOMSTDATUM 8/29/1877 21-PLANTER W.G.H.Barnet Lyon prive 299 22-PLANTAGE Pl.Jagtlust(Ben Sur) 23-CODENR F/156 24-BEGIN_CON 8/30/1877 25-EIND_CON 8/30/1882 26-HERBEGIN 27-HEREIND 28-REBEGIN 29-REEIND

30-KLSTATUS vertr 31-VERZET MEMO-INFORMATIE Vertrokken naar Calcutta per Ss Kilda op 30 oct 1879. Vw.c. zie c.dd 1877 te Calcutta gesl. at contractnumber X/157. SAMPLE # 2 1. Gulamjan, Saith Khan Relaties:* van ; van ; van 04-GESLACHT M 05-LEEFTIJD 19 16-HUIDSKLEUR 15-LENGTE 1.63 17-HERKENNINGSTEKEN pokdalig; moedervl. R borst 20-NATIONALITEIT Brits Indie 21-DISTRICT Peshaur 22-POLITIEPOST Nachera 23-DORP Nachera 19-BEROEP 18-KASTE Mosulman 39-KINDGEGEVENS N 25-SCHIPNAAM Engels schip Sutlej III 07-MONSTERNUMMER 62 34-WERVINGSINSTANTIE het koloniaal gouvernement 24-AFREISPLAATS Calcutta 26-AFREISDATUM 11/27/1913 35-AANKOMSTPLAATS Paramaribo 27-AANKOMSTDATUM 1/7/1914 36-PLANTER T.Folmer Beheerder 37-PLANTAGE Pl. Jagtlust 01-CODENR Qq/98 28-BEGIN_CON 1/7/1914

29-EIND_CON 1/7/1919 30-HERBEGIN 31-HEREIND 32-REBEGIN 33-REEIND 08-KLSTATUS 38-VERZET MEMO-INFORMATIE C.V.O. afgegeven 23-1-1919 no 43. Premie ontvangen uit Immigr.fonds, zie akte D.C. van Ben.Com. d.d. 5/4/1919. Bij besch. van 17-1-1921 no 71 in huur afgestaan perceel no--SAMPLE # 3 1. Jandaz, Mirali Relaties:* van ; van ; van 2-GESLACHT M 3-LEEFTIJD 22 4-HUIDSKLEUR 5-LENGTE 1.67 6-HERKENNINGSTEKEN litt.rechter scheenbeen,grijze ogen 7-NATIONALITEIT Brits Indie 8-DISTRICT Peshaur 9-POLITIEPOST Peshaur 10-DORP Peshaur 11-BEROEP 12-KASTE Musulman 13-KINDGEGEVENS N 14-SCHIPNAAM Engels schip Sutlej III 15-MONSTERNUMMER 614 16-WERVINGSINSTANTIE het koloniaal gouvernement 17-AFREISPLAATS Calcutta 19-AFREISDATUM 11/27/1913 20-AANKOMSTPLAATS Paramaribo 21-AANKOMSTDATUM 1/7/1914

22-PLANTER T.Folmer Beheerder 23-PLANTAGE Pl. Jagtlust/ Rust en Werk 24-CODENR Qq/102 25-BEGIN_CON 1/7/1914 26-EIND_CON 1/7/1919 27-HERBEGIN 2/10/1919 28-HEREIND 2/10/1924 29-REBEGIN 30-REEIND 31-KLSTATUS 32-VERZET MEMO-INFORMATIE SAMPLE # 4 1. Zizan, Mazid Relaties:* van ; van ; van 2-GESLACHT V 3-LEEFTIJD 24 4-HUIDSKLEUR bruin 5-LENGTE 1.45 6-HERKENNINGSTEKEN 7-NATIONALITEIT Brits Indie 8-DISTRICT Barelli 9-POLITIEPOST Bar 10-DORP Bar 11-BEROEP 12-KASTE Pattan 13-KINDGEGEVENS N 14-SCHIPNAAM SS. Mutlah 15-MONSTERNUMMER 409

16-WERVINGSINSTANTIE het koloniaal gouvernement 17-AFREISPLAATS Calcutta 18-AFREISDATUM 5/12/1913 19-AANKOMSTPLAATS Paramaribov 20-AANKOMSTDATUM 6/23/1913 21-PLANTER H.M.D.Robertson(gemachtigde v/d erven R.Kirke, beheerder van 22-PLANTAGE Pl. Hazard 23-CODENR Pp/130 24-BEGIN_CON 6/23/1913 25-EIND_CON 6/23/1918 26-HERBEGIN 27-HEREIND 28-REBEGIN 29-REEIND 30-KLSTATUS 31-VERZET MEMO-INFORMATIE Kind: Jhuman, j, geb. 23 oct. 1914 op pl. Hazard (Ag. 1914 No. 2149/O). Jhuman overleden 5 nov. 1914 op pl. Hazard (Ag. 1914 No. 2328/O). Vertrokken naar Calcutta op 5 maart 1920 per Ss Madioen. 2. IMMIGRATION CERTIFICATE OF MUNSHI RAHMAN M. KHAN URL: http://www.archief.nl/suriname_english/engels/efrm_database.html?hdr_searching Munshi Rehman M. Khan's Immigration Certificate Rehman, Mahomed Khan Relaties:* van ; van ; van GESLACHT M LEEFTIJD 24 HUIDSKLEUR bruin LENGTE 1.738 HERKENNINGSTEKEN litteeken op rechterwang NATIONALITEIT Brits Indie

DISTRICT Hamirpore POLITIEPOST Beewa DORP Bherkharri BEROEP KASTE Musulman KINDGEGEVENS N SCHIPNAAM Engels schip "Avon" MONSTERNUMMER 153 WERVINGSINSTANTIE het koloniaal gouvernementv AFREISPLAATS Calcutta AFREISDATUM 1/25/1898 AANKOMSTPLAATS Paramaribo AANKOMSTDATUM 4/13/1898 PLANTER J.D. Horst PLANTAGE Pl. Lust & Rust (Ben. Suriname) CODENR Aa/452 BEGIN_CON 4/13/1898 EIND_CON 4/13/1903 HERBEGIN HEREIND REBEGIN REEIND KLSTATUS VERZET MEMO_INFORMATIE Ontslagen 2e Kw 1903. C.V.O. op 17-6-1903 No 435. Premie ontvangen uit de Kol.kas; zie akte D.C.Ben.Para dd 31 Oct 1903. Bij res van 22 aug 1903 No 9276 overgenomen van G.F. de Ziel de huur van perc. No 117 van La Recontre; overgedragen aan H.A. Tjon-A-Kiet bij res van 30 Juni 1909 No 8144. Bij besch van dd 1-12-1920 No 1697 overgenomen perceel 50 van Livorno; ingetrokken bij besch van 6-4-1929 No 1084. Gehuwd met Joomenie d/v 697/M in Ben.Comm op 5 April 1911 (Ag'11 No 1118/O). Rehman heeft zich op 11 jan 1956 gekozen de gesl.naam van Rahman en de voornaam van Moenshi Mahomedkhan en voor de kinderen, zie reg N.V. 7-1-1956 No 8. 3. IMMIGRATION CERTIFICATE OF MAZHAR KHAN

URL: http://home.nyc.rr.com/khanmain/myarticles/firstcontact.htm Source for Immigration Certificates: Historic Database Suriname: Indentured Labour, available online at: http://www.archief.nl/suriname_english/engels/efrm_database.html?hdr_searching

Pathans
The Pathans are a Caucasoid race, who emigrated from the Middle East during the first millennium B.C., popular tradition identifying them as the lost tribe of Israel who disappeared into the desert. As the story goes the race was founded in the seventh century by Kais, thirty seventh lineal descendant of Saul of Israel who lived near Ghur in Afghanistan . After being converted by a missionary to Islam Kais moved to Kandahar where the new clan took its language Pashtu and the growing tribe spread north and east into the mountains. The three great branches of the clan which live in north Pakistan and Afghanistan trace their origin to a son of Kais. The Sarbani Pathans, which include the Yousefzai, Shinwari, Mohmands , Muhammedzai , Durrani, Ghori Khel and Khaikai khel, claim descend from Sarban. The Ghilzai Pathans, among which are the Suliman Khel and Aka Khel are descendants of Baitan. The Ghurghust Pathans, such as the Afridis, Khattaks, Wazir, Mashuds, Turis, Jajis ,Daurs, and Bangash are the descendants of Ghurghust. Physically, the Pathan are taller and stronger than the Negroid races to the south, and slimmer and more hirsute than the Mongoloids to the north . The Pathans are a tough, proud and fiercely independent people who call no man master. The Pathans occupy a vast territory, follow a wide variety of callings, and are subdivided into numerous small and semiindependent groups, like the old Scottish clans.

The Pathan is an individualist whose relations with others are governed by a code of custom and honour know as Pakhtunwali the way ,of life for a Pathan . Paktunwali promulgates three basic laws: the law of vengeance, which insists on retribution for every wrong no matter how slight done to family, clan or tribe; the law of hospitality, which must be extended to any who

seek it, invited or uninvited , Pathan or foreigner, Muslim or unbeliever; and the law of sanctuary Nanwatai which must be given to all who ask for it, even an enemy. The Pathans adherence to this code in the long-term binds them together, in the short-term it can have just the opposite effect. In war the Pathan generally obeyed approved leaders of his own tribe, in peace it was his pride to obey no one.